Good is good, but best is better

It's that time again -- the start of a new school year.

If you are like me, you may already be juggling a calendar full of activity -- sport schedules, piano and language lessons, homework, school meetings, classes at the gym, Ladies Bible Study -- and it's only the first week of school!

It's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the "freedom" we have once our children are in school, but if we aren't mindful of our activities then we can find ourselves overwhelmed by them. You and I need to be wise and careful in the activities we involve ourselves with and the choices we make with our time. If we aren't, then we are prone to cross the line between good and best. How do I know this? Unfortunately, I've blurred the line too many times.

Good activities have value and may very well be important, but many times they distract us from God's best for our lives. That is why good is good, but best is better. The enemy can't destroy us, but he certainly can distract us. How? By filling our time with "good" activities, those things that, at first seem innocent enough, but over time rob of us of our energy, our time, and our peace. Let me share an story with you that I think illustrates this point:

Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, " We can't keep the Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their Bible and knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from conservative values. But we can do something else. We can keep them from forming an intimate abiding relationship experience in Christ. If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken. So let them go to church, let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can't gain that experience in Jesus Christ. This is what I want you to do -- distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connect throughout their day!"

"How shall we do this?" shouted his angels.

"Keep them busy in the non essentials of life and invent unnumbered schemes to occupy their minds," he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, then borrow, borrow, borrow. Convince the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6 or 7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work. Over-stimulate their minds so they cannot hear that still small voice. Entice them to play the radio whenever they drive, to keep the TV, DVD, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their homes. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ. Fill their coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from their recreation exhausted, disquieted, and unprepared for the coming week. Don't let them go out in nature of reflect on God's wonders. And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotion. Let them be involved in soul-winning. But crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Christ. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause."

In was quite a convention in the end. And the evil angels went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busy, busy, and rush here and there.

Has the devil been successful at his scheme? You be the judge.


I've had this story for several years and refer back to it often, because it really hits home with me. Too many times I've sacrificed God's best in my life, with my family, and in my ministry because I get caught up in the good things. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against "good" activities; I've just learned that good is good, but best is better.

I know our lives are not all the same and what works for me may not work for you. It's my hope that as you start filling in the empty spaces of your calendar in the upcoming weeks that you will carefully weigh your options and funnel all your activities through the truth of God's word: "Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." (Ephesians 5:15-16)