Earlier in January, I was working on our church’s newsletter and needed something to fill a page. As I was considering what to do with the page, I felt led by the Holy Spirit to share something that has been on my heart for a while. During my days as a volunteer for the Boy Scouts, one of the standby jokes was that “it only took one hour a week” to make a difference in the life of a boy. Without a doubt there is a lot of truth within that statement. There is a lot of difference that one hour a week can make if we use it wisely. For a moment, think of the impact in the community that the church would have if everyone would just spent one hour a week doing something to further the ministry of the local church.
As I was preparing to post this, a thought came to mind – what if for a four-month period, a challenge was made to myself and any others who wanted to see the difference that just one hour a week would add to the local church’s impact on the community. Please do not take this challenge lightly as it is not something you can pledge to do and then not follow through with it. If you do decide to take part in this challenge, remember what God has said about making vows: When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5). If you decide to take part in this, remember your commitment is not to me or this discipleship blog; it is a commitment between you and God. Alternately, remember that if you do make the commitment to spend an hour a week for four months, you should make every effort to complete it. It’s why David, the psalmist, wrote Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared (Psalms 76:11) and why Jesus taught the crowds during his earthly ministry: And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62). Once the commitment to spend one hour a week is made it is something that we must keep doing for the entire four-month challenge.
The reason I believe that this must be a four-month challenge is because of human psychology. According to numerous studies, it takes 120 days before anything becomes a habit, regardless of if it is a good or bad one. It is my sincerest hope that this challenge will not be something that ends once those participating hit the four-month mark, but is something that continues beyond. I believe that as we strive to make that difference in that one hour a week, God will bless our efforts and we will see fruit as a means to encourage us to continue. Based on my experiences, I know that if we diligently spend one hour a week sincerely trying to expand the reach of the local church’s ministry it will have an impact on our communities. We will see souls saved, we will see the broken-hearted healed, we will see fellowship restored with members, and we will see families coming together. I believe that one hour a week will make a difference if we use it wisely.
For many of you who are already facing busy days, you are probably wondering how you can squeeze one more hour into your already busy week. To be completely honest with you, it would not need be given at one time, nor would it need to be spent doing just one thing. As I was preparing the article for our church newsletter, I thought about how taking the hour and dividing it into six parts, one for each day of the week except Sunday, could be used by even the busiest person to be able to make a difference over the next four months. Think of the difference that one hour could make each week even if divided among six days:
- Just ten minutes on Monday to call those who missed Sunday morning service. It would let them know that you cared enough to notice they were not there and are concerned for them.
- Just ten minutes on Tuesday to call the older members from our church who are shut ins. This would let them know that they are not forgotten by their church family.
- Just ten minutes on Wednesday spent sending out cards to those going through trials and hardships in our church. This could encourage them to keep going, praying, depending, and remaining faithful to God and not giving up.
- Just ten minutes on Thursday to take cookies to a next door neighbor or co-worker and to invite them to church. We all have neighbors and co-workers that need to have someone reach out to them with the love of God.
