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During this month, I’m devoting Saturday to discussing our relationships. I would like to begin today by discussing how and why we should spend time with God.
Have you ever noticed that when things get busy and something has to go, it often ends up being time with God? At least this is the case for me. Even when I make time for personal study, it is hard to focus when I have a lot going on. It seems more like a chore to check off my list when I should treat time with God no differently than spending time with a dear friend.
So what should we do? And why is making time with God important? I want us to look at three reasons.
First, as in any relationship, growth comes from spending time together. The Bible is God’s conversation with us. Hebrews 4:12 tells us “the word of God is living and active.” We know God through His Word and through the Holy Spirit who helps us to understand it. Prayer is our side of the conversation. We often view prayer as a chance to ask God for things, and it certainly includes that, but prayer can be so much more. God desires a true relationship with us in which we can discuss our rejoicing and our sadness, our failures and triumphs.
Secondly, spending time with God helps guide our priorities. Psalm 119:105 tells us, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” It is so easy to get lost in the busyness of doing that we forget the purpose. God’s Word gives us direction and focus. When I spend concentrated time in Bible study and prayer, I am more focused, more determined, and have more clarity to face my day. As Christians, we should be living with kingdom-focused purpose, but if we aren’t making time for kingdom things, we lose that focus.
Lastly, spending time with God prepares us to face our day. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” Just as students go to college to be equipped for a career, Christians should study the Bible so that we are equipped to live the Christian life–able to know and keep the commands of our Creator and trained to share of His love.
I urge you to set aside daily time with God. On Wednesday, I asked you to write a prayer to God that you can say daily. If you haven’t already done so, take the time this weekend to write out your thoughts. Then set aside daily time to read the Word. If it has become routine for you and more like a chore, brainstorm ways that you can change this. Maybe it is simply rethinking how and why you spend time with God. Or maybe a new Bible study would help. One thing I have done is joined with Courtney of Women Living Well in her Blogging Through the Bible series. The goal is to read just one chapter of Scripture a day and to really let it soak in and allow God to speak to you through His Word.
I hope you will contemplate how you spend time with God and make it a priority. In working towards a less-stressed life, I believe it is vitally important for us to operate from a sure foundation. I leave you with Jesus’ words from Matthew 7:24-27:
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
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