My thanks to Cal Habig at Talking the Walk for this great piece in which he quotes John MacArthur -  this was exactly what I needed this Friday afternoon as I sat down to continue my preparation on 1 Peter 3vv18-22 for this coming Sunday evening

Someone once asked John MacArthur “What’s the secret to good preaching?” He said, “Keep your butt in the chair until the hard work is done.”

As the Cowardly Lion used to say, “Ain’t it the truth…ain’t it the truth.”

There are so many things, both legitimate and illegitimate that would draw us out of the chair and away from sermon preparation. One of the hard things is that there are so many LEGITIMATE reasons to get your rear out of the chair. People expect you to be available. There are always calls to be made. There are always “emergencies.” Staff always have questions. One of my favorite cartoons is of the secretary barging into the pastor’s office and when she sees that he is praying, she says, “Oh good…you’re not busy.” (Fortunately my secretaries are much more thoughtful than that.)

And yet people will be able to tell if you (I) strayed too much out of the chair and fudged on getting the hard work done. “Keep your butt in the chair until the hard work is done.” Thanks Macarthur.