Thanksgiving Overloaded!!!

Nine more days!!! Does this sound familiar…

“Don’t forget to buy the turkey. When should it start thawing? I’ve got to finalize the menu. Who should bring which side dish? How many pies do we need? Will anyone notice if I go to Baker’s Square? What time is half time? Are the beds changed? Where’s the tablecloth? Are there enough folding chairs? What time is everyone arriving? What time will they leave? Who’s gonna clean the bathroom? When I have time, I’m going to make a to-do list.”

Thanksgiving?!?! Not quite!

Why is it that no matter how much we want to do, and need to do, it just seems like we’re often flying by the seat of our pants, and running out of time? There are too few hours to get everything accomplished. There isn’t even time to organize.

This is not new, consider the Israelites… Haggai 1:5-6 “Consider how things are going for you! You have planted much but harvested little. You have food to eat, but not enough to fill you up. You have wine to drink, but not enough to satisfy your thirst. You have clothing to wear, but not enough to keep you warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes.”

The harder they worked, the less they had. The more they tried to get ahead, the further behind they got. Two steps forward and three steps back. There was never enough. Their lives were a lot like ours today.

The Bible tells us that the reason the Israelites couldn’t get ahead was because they put their personal desires ahead of the Lord’s. They were supposed to be rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem, but there wasn’t time because they were too busy building their own houses. First things first, right?

Isn’t that part of our problem today? We are supposed to be building the Kingdom, but we’re too busy building our own lives. First things first, right?

I wonder if we gave to God the first portion of our day, or any portion of our day, if we’d have more of the day to do the other things we need to do. Could it be that we run out of time and are always scrounging because we’ve failed to define what the first things should be?
When you think of spending time with the Lord does your mind automatically start rattling off all of the things you need to do first? Do you start worrying about how you’re going to fit it all in?

We don’t have time for prayer, or Bible study, or quiet time, because we’re too busy with our careers, our families, or even our ministries. We can’t add time, but maybe we can prioritize better.

Psalm 5:3 “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.”

Perhaps the first thing we should do this Thanksgiving is overload the Lord with thanks-giving.