Prioritize

“To everything there is a season, and time for every purpose under heaven.”
Ecclesiastes 3

I am looking at the apple tree in my back yard. It’s time to pick the apples. When I was a little boy, I remember picking cherries with my grandfather. Picking apples is something I do with my grandson. And if I don’t, the rabbits and deer will eat them all. But I am just not sure when I will get to it.

As I get older, it seems time is running faster. There simply isn’t “time for every purpose under heaven.” When I was younger, I found time for things I don’t seem to be able to find time for now. Like a walk on the bike trail with my wife, or sailing at the lake with a friend, or picking apples with my grandson. So the apples fall to the ground and the rabbits and the deer get them. 

Prioritize!! That’s what people tell me to do. And I try to do just that, but there are so many priorities I just can’t get to what I need to get to. Do I stop mowing the grass, or not visit in the hospital? Do I neglect a lunch with friends so we have friends, or do I go to the funeral for a friend that passed? Do I write this article, or do I wake up my grandson to go pick apples?

If I don’t water the plants, they will die. If I don’t spend time in prayer, I will loose touch with God, if I don’t fix the light, the closet will be dark, if I don’t work on a sermon, or take care of the church business, our future as a church is not as strong. If I don’t pick apples with my grandson, he will carry one less memory of our life together. 

In Western New York, Summer is a time for picking apples, going to the lake, mowing the lawn and walks on the bike trail. Fall is the time to get back to business. Every week is a time to renew our faith in God in worship. Every day is a time to read the scripture. And each hour is an opportunity for prayer. (at least a short one.)

Every day God gives us the time. It is ours to determine. There are things that need immediate attention like watering the plants. There are things that matter more for a life time like making memories, staying in touch with friends or keeping connected to God. Or picking apples. Time to wake up my grandson.

God bless our times together,

Pastor Tom