“Organization Is A Good Thing?”


BIBLE READING: 1 Chronicles 24-26

        As I write this, I’m looking at my desk. It’s not organized. There are books piled on one side. Papers on the right by my lamp. Another stack of books and notebooks. A highlighter, a package of blue pens, a fan, two sticky note pads, some crumpled up receipts, a cube of sticky tack, some graded quizzes, a calculator, a water bottle, a plastic fork, a stapler, a peppermint candy, some business cards of California State Representative’s employees, and my computer. Needless to say, I really ought to clean off my desk.   Today, however, I tackled something else in my life that was unorganized—my keys! On my key chain, I have 9 keys, a pocketknife, a flashlight, a decorative thing (whatever those souvenirs are called), and a lanyard. Yesterday, this collection included a total of 6 key rings, all hooped together and jumbled up. They would get tangled in my pocket. No more. Today I rearranged them all, and am proud to say I have two key rings hooked together—one for the dorm keys, and one for my personal keys. That’s all. My key are now organized, and I have 4 key rings in my desk drawer if anyone needs extras. Now you know more about me than you may have wanted to know, but you’re probably wondering what all this has to do with 1 Chronicles 24. Skim over it, and then come back. Besides the hard-to-pronounce names, I came away from this chapter knowing that God likes order. Like my keys, the Levites—the temple workers—were organized into teams and groups in order to make things more efficient. Today, most churches assign their members jobs to do so that the church runs smoothly and that everything happens at the right time. At a worship service, everyone (hopefully) knows what their part in the service is. If this didn’t happen, 5 people would come to church with a sermon to preach, 2 people would fight over who was going to lead the singing, and no one would have brought food!  Just like God wants everything in the church to “be done decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40), so as well. This includes keeping your room clean, remembering appointments, and getting to be on time. For now, I think I’ll start by getting some sleep, and then tomorrow you’ll find me cleaning off my desk!  May God bless you as He helps you organize your life!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Timothy Baze (In Christ Alone Devotionals)


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