Making Ourselves Available

    A man was going up to bed, when his wife told him he'd left the light on in the garden shed - she could see it from the bedroom window.  But he said that he hadn't been in the shed that day.  He looked, and there were men in the shed, stealing things.  He rang the police, but they told him that no one was in his area, so no one was available to catch the thieves.
    He said OK, hung up, counted to 30 and rang the police again. "Hello. I just rang you a few seconds ago because there were people in my shed?  Well, you don't have to worry about them now, I've just shot them all."
    Within five minutes there were half a dozen police cars in the area, an Armed Response unit, the works.  Of course, they caught the burglars red-handed. One of the policeman said to this man: "I thought you said you'd shot them!"
    He replied, "I thought you said there was no one available!"
    The same thing happens frequently in my life.  Someone asks me to do something and I respond, "I don't have the time."  Often, what I mean by that is, "I don't regard this as important enough."  The truth is, we find (or make) the time to do whatever we regard to be important.
    Someone has said you can tell a person's priorities by looking at his checkbook.  There is a great deal of validity to that.  We are willing to spend money on the things we think are important.  But perhaps a greater indicator of our priorities would be our planning books -- a record of how our time is spent.
    For all of us, choices must be made.  We don't have time to do everything, so we must choose those things which are of greatest importance to us.  Just be careful that your choices are those things which are also most important to God.  The greatest men and women in the Bible were not those with the greatest resources or talents, but they were men and women who made themselves available to be used by God whenever He called.  May God never hear us say, "Sorry, but I'm not available!"
    "Be very careful, then, how you live -- not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." (Ephesians 5:15-17, NIV)
    Have a great day!

- Alan Smith, author of the popular "Thought For Today," and minister for the Fayetteville Church of Christ in Fayetteville, NC, may be contacted at alansmith.servant@gmail.com