Acts 6 - The right work at the right time

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Originally uploaded by ryan.melissa.

We will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.
- Acts 6:4 (ESV)

D.A. Carson says this about this passage:

We may not have the Twelve today, but pastors/elders/overseers have inherited this ministry of the word and prayer. That includes not only teaching others, but doing the serious study and preparation and intercession that stand behind good teaching and preaching. There will always be a hundred things to distract you. Do not be distracted from what is central.

Two years ago my wife shared this verse with me along with the corresponding devotional thought from D.A. Carson's For the Love of God vol. 2. I have a copy of this page on my desk to help focus and prioritize what I do. Since I am currently going through this book myself, I was struck again the determination of the Twelve.

Here it is, many days after reading this thought, and I am finally getting around to completing this post. The "hundred distracting things" have been receiving more attention than they should. May the Lord help us all to keep the important the central part of what we do.