I am an offender. I know other offenders. We are probably all offenders whether we want to admit it or not. We get to the point in our lives that we are so busy and scheduled that we look back and realize that we have planned Jesus out of our daily lives. I will get back to this point in a little bit, but first I want to talk more corporately.

A couple weeks ago we had a sermon on prayer and how it was important to those of us who call our church home. We have to be committed to praying for our church and its leaders and the people that walk in the door. Then it struck me. As the one who plans our Sunday services and the scheduling of people and the times, we give VERY little time to praying each Sunday. I have worked so hard in the past year plus to craft a service time with all of these different elements and creative moments and looked back and saw that some of the staples were missing. I had successfully planned out Jesus. We didn’t leave much room for the Holy Spirit to really work. So what did we do? We made a change. We decided that we would devote time each week to corporate prayer during the service. And people have really swallowed it up. And then I sit back and wonder, “What took us so long?”

Are you able to look at your life see ways that you have planned Jesus out of it? Are you recovering from realizing that you had done it before? I can’t find any situation where planning Jesus out of the picture is a good thing. Have you planned your family so perfectly and some sort of way Jesus fell out of the plans? I know that I have made this mistake. I know that I need to change it. I’m taking that step. Wanna join me?