When you’re too busy to do it all
Devoted to Prayer & Ministry
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But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.
Acts 6:4 (NET)
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Devote:
To give one’s time, focus one’s efforts, commit oneself, etc. entirely for, on, or to a certain matter
It’s a whole commitment.
How devoted are you?
I’m asking myself that as much (or more) as I’m asking you.
I know we declare our devotion to Christ when we choose Him at salvation. And we make it public when we get baptized.
Yet there’s a lot of day to day life that seems to get in the way.
What’s distracting you from your devotion?
In the apostles’ case, it was good ministry needs -- specifically taking care of the orphaned & widowed who needed food.
Definitely a good thing that needed to be done.
But did the leaders of the church need to be the ones doing it?
They certainly could do it, except some in need were falling through the cracks. The fact is that the apostles were just too busy to do every good thing.
So they raised other leaders to help.
This gave leadership roles to up & comers, allowed the apostles to focus on prayer and the ministry of the Word, and helped grow the church.
Sometimes delegation is the best course of action.
It doesn’t mean that you’re incapable of doing the work, or that you think it’s beneath you. It may simply be a case of handing off something good others can do in service of something good only you can do.
Both roles can display devotion.
The Body of Christ is diverse & beautiful that way.
— Ricky Ketchum
Copyright © 2026 by Ricky Ketchum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV®Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright© 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
