unorganized. doing the unprofitable. making your time count

Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt

Okay, can I tell on myself? Over the years, I have trained myself to hate my own procrastination and try not to. But, like us all, I still find areas of procrastination. I don’t know if most people have a sock drawer or not, but I do. Over the years I’ve accumulated more and more socks. Recently, after I had fished out a pair, I tried to close the drawer but couldn’t. It was ridiculously overstuffed and I broke the plastic hardware. I had heard that inner voice before, Tim, you have way too many socks! It’s so stuffed that you are going to break the hardware on the drawer. Why don’t you get rid of the ones you don’t need.

I repented in my heart, I cleaned out the sock drawer and got rid of a third of the socks! This was way too overdue! And it felt so good! I mean really good! How can something like cleaning a sock drawer feel so good? Crazy, huh?

Why did I wait so long to do something that I have thought about a hundred times before. I’m not a pack rat. Renee and I both clear out and give stuff away on an regular basis. As I was cleaning this drawer, a verse came to mind. I think the Lord was using the occasion to have a deeper talk with me. The verse that came to mind was 1 Corinthians 10:23 NLT. “You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is helpful. You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is beneficial.”

I don’t think—I know that there are many things that the Lord talks to each of us about. There are things we do in life that may not be sin, but they are definitely not beneficial. There are many things we could eliminate and replace with something better, such as in the way we spend our time. There are activities that we put time and money into that we get very little real satisfaction from. We simply do things out of habit and routine, even though we often think about making a change regarding them. I’d thought about that sock drawer for three years. Why? Why did I? Why did I think about it for so long if I knew I should do something about it? Was it because it wasn’t hurting anything? Well was it helping anything? Truth be told, it was actually a pain every time I had to look for a pair of socks.

As I said, I know God talks to us on many levels about many things that we need to change in our lives—about things that we may not deem sin, but because they aren’t sin we just let them go on and on. Following the leading of the Holy Spirit, is listening to those little small impressions of the heart and doing something about them. And the funny part is, when we do—when we rid ourselves of something that is bothering us or that we know isn’t profitable or beneficial. When we replace it with something beneficial—we feel so much better!

A simple thing like a sock drawer was a pain. Today it’s a delight. It feels so much better. And the bonus is, Renee was happy to find out it! So as I address you today, let’s think about the question! Why let unprofitable things continue when all we need to do is make a change or adjustment? I like adding things that benefit me to my life. I like getting rid of the unprofitable. How about you?

1 Cor. 10:23 (NLT) You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is helpful. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial.

In His love,
Pastor Tim Burt

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