TIME WITH GOD
Jeremiah 29:12,13 "Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."
I have a question for you. How much time do you spend with God on a daily basis? You may fit into a routine similar to this one: a quick prayer in the morning, read a chapter out of the Bible, and a prayer before going to bed. You may even have that "religious" book that you read a few pages in once in awhile. Or maybe you just pray when there is a problem or difficulty in your life. Do you only pick up the Bible and thumb through it when you need comforting or reassurance? So let's go back to the original question: how much time do you really spend or give to God daily? Add it up really quickly, and no, calling out His name in the middle of the night when you stub your toe doesn't count. If you are like one of the descriptions above, you may only spend 10, 20, or 30 minutes a day with the Creator and Giver of Life. Maybe you are spending way less than that because you just really never think about it. In Revelation 4:11 we read, "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created." Now being married and a father of 3, I know that sometimes it's hard to fit anything else into our busy daily lives. Let's take a quick look at some statistics on what the average person does daily:
Internet - 2 to 3 hours
Phone - 20 to 30 minutes
Reading - less than 1 hour
Texting - over 1 hour
T.V. - over 4 hours; that's about 2 months a year, and by the time you're 65 that's 9 years spent in front of the tube.
Do you feel like your daily life is sort of like that? Now throw in a job and maybe a child or two, and how can we possibly fit in anything else? Let's switch gears for a moment and look at what God has done and continues to do for us. Here are just a few examples with Bible references:
Created the World: Gen. 1:10-25
Created people: Gen. 1:27
Wills everything to be: Rev. 4:11
Sent His son Jesus to Earth: Jhn. 1:14
Healed the sick and the lame: Mrk. 1:41-42, Mrk. 5:1-15, Mrk. 7:31-35
Was beaten and humiliated: Mrk. 14:65, Mrk. 15:15
Died a horrible and painful death on a cross: Lk. 23:26-48
Gives us salvation: Rom. 10:9
Forgives our sin: 1Jhn. 1:9
Gives us the Holy Spirit: Jhn. 14:26
Promises to never leave us: Matt. 28:19-20
Again these are just a few examples of the mighty and merciful things He has done and continues to do on a daily basis. The psalmist Asaph writes in Psalm 77:11-13,"I will remember the works of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all Your work, And talk of Your deeds. Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; Who is so great a God as our God?". So let's change the original question a bit. Instead of how much time DO you spend with God, let's ask do we spend ENOUGH time with God on a daily basis. Is there any way in our busy lives that we can show our Father in Heaven any more love and respect by giving Him a little more of our attention? Here’s a few simple ideas that can make a great difference: wake up 30 minutes earlier for some real devotional time; take a small Bible with you to work or school and read when you get a chance; turn the TV. off at night, instead of going to sleep with CBS or NBC, go to sleep with the Word of God; associate with other believers; get involved in a ministry of some kind at your church; pray all day everyday, when you wake up, in your car, before and after you eat, between classes, and when you are walking to and from your car. God wants to talk to you all the time. With the hustle and bustle that is our daily lives remember that God loves us, will take care of us, and always makes time for us. So let's try and make a little more time for Him.
Let us pray: I offer you, Lord, my thoughts: to be fixed on you; my words: to have you for their theme; my actions: to reflect my love for you; my sufferings: to be endured for your greater glory. I want to do what you ask of me: in the way you ask, for as long as you ask, because you ask it. I pray, Lord, that you enlighten my mind, inflame my will, purify my heart, and sanctify my soul (Pope Clement XI). AMEN
Written by Joshua D. Thompson
