Do you consistently seek out that quiet time and place to spend just with God?
Honestly, I do not. I consistently have deep desires to; but I haven't made it a priority in my life. I can come up with a million and one reasons why it hasn't happened, but the real reason is that it isn't a priority. I make going to church a priority. I make serving in the church a priority. While those are good priorities to have in your life, they should take a backseat to the priority of building my relationship with Christ! So, why is it so difficult for me to prioritize spending time with God?
I think I have 2 main reasons: 1) Laziness - If I begin my day with the Lord, that means I'll have to get up earlier! I like my sleep! Or if I get up earlier, then I'll have to go to bed earlier to make up for that lost sleep and then I'd have to miss some TV (I'm being convicted just writing this down - it sounds terrible!) 2) Fear. Fear? Yep! What might I discover about myself? Things that I am not proud of. Things that I need to change - and who likes change? If I don't dig, then I won't be forced to see these things and actually make changes - right? But, what else will I discover? God's grace. God's mercy. God's love. God's blessing. Wow. It seems I really have more to gain by making this a priority than I have to lose.
So, I've been reading the daily devotions from the magazine "Journey" this month (not in the morning either, mind you). Although we are only 7 days into the month, I've already had some "light-bulb" moments. One of them came from Friday, November 5th's devotion. The scripture verse was Mark 1:35 "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark (my comment: and it IS dark when I get up!), He got up, went out, and made His way to a deserted place. And He was praying there". The writer of the devotion said this: "He was fully God, yet in His humanity He knew where to draw His strength from. He has offered us an example here for how to go into a purposeful, productive, busy day." She reminded us that Jesus had a busy schedule: teaching, preparing His disciples for ministry, meeting the needs of others . . . AND guess what? He didn't have forever to do this. He had a VERY short time to accomplish what He came to do. Sound familiar? I have so much to do and so little time to do it in! - Ever said that? Yeah, me too. She asked the question "If the Son of God needed to spend time in prayer with His Father, then what makes me think I can get by without it?" Whew! Light-bulb on!
So, I am going to put forth an effort to get up earlier and start my day in the Word and in prayer. I am asking that you pray for me as I work towards making this a priority in my life.
Psalm 143 was the "deeper walk" passage to read and study and pray about for this particular day. I'll let you go there on your own and do just that. I have.
