WEEKLY ARTICLE

Plodding Toward Jesus During a Busy Summer

Weekly Article by the Rev. Matt Kennedy

The Church of the Good Shepherd

July 14th, 2006

We've had a very busy week at Good Shepherd. They say summer is slower in the church, but this summer has been as busy as Easter. But there does seem to be a lightening of the load on the horizon. The New Beginniners bible study has graduated to the First Light level, which means they get to take the rest of the summer off (more about that in this week's update). The Tuesday Morning Bible study will be taking August off in light of the coming child and lots of people heading out on vacation. Moreover, the child, when he arrives, will also mean the beginning of the rest of my vacation...sort of. I mean I'll have time off, but it won't necessarily be vacation I guess. Oh well, I really do love my job and if you have a job you love, busyness isn't all that bad...but anyway, when I go on vacation, probably in August, you'll probably see things slow down even more.

But just for a month...so don't get too relaxed :)

Actually, this is a great time, if indeed things are slowing down for you, to reestablish (if they have become disestablished) your personal prayer and bible reading habits. Setting aside time now, during the summer, to spend alone with God dailyand sticking to it and, in fact, letting it become a habitual need, an essential part of your day, will make it that much more likely that you will insist to yourself that you must carve out time for it when the chaos begins in the fall. It is not a dramatic thing to do and can, sometimes, even be boring. But the daily habit, the regular, devoted plodding through the scriptures, speaking to God and letting God speak to you, confessing your sins and repenting of them, thanking God, praising him, and asking for his help, over time results in a dramatic change.

It is a wonderful thing to compare Good Shepherd three years ago with regard to studying and understanding the bible, prayer, worship, and spiritual life to Good Shepherd today. This body has become rooted in the Word and it shows. The church has dramatically changed and matured. But it was not an overnight change. It was something that happened step by plodding step as you came to bible study even when you were tired, served at the Shepherd's Bowl even when no one showed up, sat in the pews on steamy Sunday mornings when you really wanted to crawl back in bed. These small acts of discipline and commitment opened the door for the Holy Spirit to work and transform the church to the growing and vibrant place that it is today.

What has happened to the church as a whole will happen to you personally if you make the commitment to seek God every day in prayer and in his Word. Look around at your brothers and sisters who have made this sort of commitment and you can see it...the change in their lives and hearts. It takes commitment, discipline, and the willingness to make time when you think you don't have it. But if you give yourself daily, you'll find God giving himself daily too, building you up and making you new every day.

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