When Moses and Aaron first asked Pharaoh to let 
the Israelites go into the wilderness to worship God,
Pharaoh responded with defiance. When Moses and 
Aaron appealed Pharaoh’s decision, Pharaoh responded 
by saying that the reason they were asking in the first 
place was that the people were not busy enough.Pharaoh’s solution was to increase their workload.  
He commanded the Egyptian taskmasters to withhold 
the straw necessary for making bricks and make the
Israelites go gather for themselves while demanding 
that they produce the same quantity and quality of 
brick as before.  When they couldn’t meet their quotas, 
the taskmasters beat them. Fast forward 3500 years and we see that Satan 
is still using this same tactic against God’s people. 
Satan attempts to make life so busy that we don’t 
have time to think about, much less actually 
worship.   We make time for work, for education, 
for sports, for music and arts, for recreation and 
relaxation, but the church is put on the back burner.  If we do make the church a priority and our material
productivity and prosperity are somewhat lessened 
as a result, then Satan will send his “taskmasters” to 
beat us with guilt and shame.  The boss might come
down hard on us for not working overtime.  The 
neighbors might give us a hard time because the yard 
isn’t perfectly manicured.  Our worldly acquaintances 
will tell us that we are hindering our kid’s development
by not carting them to every extra-curricular activity. We must not give in to Satan’s temptation to so fill our 
time with other things that we have none left for God.  
We must prioritize our time and strategically deny those 
things that will only distract us from worship and 
distance us from the local church.