Our society loves talking about the percentages. We talk about the 99% compared to the 1% when it comes to wealth in our country. We talk about the percentage that the economy grew last month, or even what percentage of our GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is our national debt. Yet there is one percentage we don't seem to enjoy talking about; the percentage of our time that we use serving God.
Let's think about some things here. There are 365 days in a year. There are 52 weeks a year and 24 hours in a day. That means that there are 168 hours in a week, and 8,760 hours in a year. If we were to attend services every time the door was open, whether it be Bible classes or worship services, that would mean in an average week we would spend 4 hours a week at services. I realize sometimes services go over the set time limit, and that many get to services a little early and stay a couple of minutes afterward so we will say we spend 5 hours a week at services. That comes out to 2.9% of our week. I also realize that during the year there are gospel meetings that add an extra service on Monday and Tuesday night. This happens twice a year. This means that if we spend 5 hours a week at services, we spend 260 hours a year coming to church plus add the additional 4 hours for the extra Monday and Tuesday night services during gospel meetings twice a year, that brings our grand total to 264 hours a year or 3.01%.
Now to be fair, I realize that there are many who spend many more hours doing the work of the Lord. I realize that there are those who spend hour after hour conducting home Bible studies, visiting, helping around the building, studying their Bibles, and more. However, that being said, how many only do the 3% or less?
My challenge to everyone is to think outside of services. I challenge all to go to those services that take up 3% of our time per year, but I also want us to challenge ourselves to go beyond that. I want to encourage all to extend our Christianity beyond just worship services. This means living our lives in a Christian way throughout the week but also being willing to give time to further the Kingdom. If we spend an extra two hours per week in addition to worship services we would still only be spending 4.2% of our time doing things for the Lord. Surely we can find the time to serve the very Being that created us, and made salvation possible. Surely we can find the time to tell others about Him!
Let me encourage you to go beyond just the 3%!
