I'm reading about the Jehovah's Witnesses and learned that new converts are required to spend 1500 hours in a single year on the streets and in homes, witnessing and evangelizing to the world.

That just floored me. 1500 hours in a year!* Do you know what that is? That's 125 hours a month, 23 hours a week, or 4 hours a day (including weekends)! For comparison, the typical American "9-5" work-year is 2000 hours (after weekends, vacations and holidays).

And the Witnesses have a special title for those who spend "significantly more" time on the street than 1500 hours! (Even more?!)

I've heard it said that Jehovah's Witnesses could put our zeal to shame. On that line, I happened to read this scripture on the bus this morning:

Other translations say, "My zeal wears me out, for my enemies ignore your words." Both "consumes me" and "wears me out" are good.

I've had this phrase in my head since I was a teen: "Never underestimate the creativity of someone." One of the meanings of this phrase is, if a person applies himself rigorously for a length of time (say a few years), astounding things can be done. This can be observed in warfare between countries: leave a country alone for a few decades and watch out because they could invent countermeasures. Hacking: don't update your software for a year and watch out, hackers will find their way in. And Jehovah's Witnesses: while we sit on our bum, they are vigorously working to spread their influence and undermine us.

Just some words to encourage. Does your zeal wear you out? Does it utterly consume you as a fire consumes a log?

* This number is only for street-work, and does not include worship, "Bible" study, and fellowship time, which takes place on five days of the week.