One of the best ways to show I care about others is to manage my time well.
— John Maxwell

Samuel Plimsoll, a member of the English Parliament in the 1800s, crusaded for the safety of merchant seamen. To outlaw what Plimsoll called "coffin ships," overloaded and therefore unseaworthy vessels often heavily insured by their unscrupulous owners, Parliament enacted the Merchant Shipping Act of 1876.

This act required all merchant ships to have a load line, a line on the hull that would be visible above the water if a ship was carrying a safe weight. An overloaded ship would submerge the line. This load line came to be known as the Plimsoll mark.

Sometimes pastors need a "Plimsoll mark." I remember all too well a time when mine would have been six feet under water.

I had committed myself to speak at leadership conferences six weeks in a row — in addition to pastoring my church. When those six weeks were over, I had spoken 72 times and traveled over 18,000 miles without a single day off. I felt ...

You have reached the end of this Article Preview

To continue reading, subscribe to Christianity Today magazine. Subscribers have full digital access to CT Pastors articles.

Log InSubscribe

Already a CT subscriber? Log in for full digital access.