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No Time For God
I wish I was a better person. Sometimes I look at my life and think I could be doing so much more with it. I find myself wasting time watching TV or surfing the internet. I find myself unwilling to take an extra thirty minutes or an hour to get into prayer or read my Bible. I find myself not wanting to pick up my guitar and practice or pick up my pen and write something.
Why is it so hard? I love worshiping God and being in His presence. I love reading His word and studying it to learn new things. I love writing and playing my guitar, but when it comes down to putting everything else aside and actually doing it, that’s the hard part.
Matthew 26:41 says, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
I can always tell when my life starts getting off track. I can look at my lack of a prayer life and that usually correlates with everything that’s going wrong. I’ve heard it said that “One Week without prayer makes One Weak.” That’s so true, but even one day without seeking God can get you out of sync.
As many of you know, I believe the iPod is the single most greatest bestest super duper awesome cool invention ever to embark upon planet earth. As of now, I have over 6,000 songs and videos on mine. One reason I love my job is that I can listen to music all night long while I work. Lately I’ve gotten into listening to a few different podcasts. You can subscribe to various podcasts on iTunes and they update themselves every time there’s a new one available.
When I get home in the morning from work, the first thing I usually do is plug my iPod into my computer. After using the iPod all night long at work, the battery tends to be wearing down, so I plug it in so that it can be recharged. If I forget to plug it in, the next night at work I find myself running low on battery. I don’t think I’ve ever used up the whole battery, but if I did I’d be stuck twiddling my thumbs all night long and humming melodies in my head, and that could be scary.
Just like the iPod battery needs to be recharged, so does our lives. If we don’t seek God everyday and make it a priority to get into prayer, we become drained. We might be able to make it a day or two and not feel anything, but soon your batteries going to run out. We need to plug into the Source every day so we don’t risk falling away.
We also need to read our Word daily. It’s what keeps us alive and going. The Word is a lamp unto our feet. It shows us what direction to go in life. It lights our paths. I subscribe to a new Christian music podcast that tells you what music is coming out every Tuesday. If I’m not plugged in and it doesn’t download onto my iPod, I miss out on knowing what’s new that week. If I’m not reading my Word, I miss out on what God’s trying to tell me that day.
I’ve heard people say, “I don’t have to read the Bible. I get enough from church on Sundays.” That’s good and all, but it’s not enough. God uses the Pastor to bring forth His Word and feed us from week to week, but that’s not going to sustain us. We need our own personal relationship with God. 2 Timothy 2:15 says to study to show ourselves approved.
I heard a teaching the other day talking about how a preacher studies and gets his notes together for his sermon. He seeks God and asks Him to reveal to him what to say. He puts in his time to hear God speak to him. Then we go to church to hear the message and receive it and take it in and God does do great things through it, but what we’re hearing is second hand information. The preacher had that personal time spent with God and he got what he needed out of the message. Too many times we rely solely on the preacher and don’t go to the Source ourselves. If we want to be all God has called us to be, we too have to put in that effort and seek God and study the scriptures.
I’m sorry to say, but reading this column isn’t enough. Getting the “Scripture of the Day” in your email isn’t enough. Going to church isn’t enough. It’s that personal relationship with God that’s going to keep you. It’s developing that bond with Christ that’s going to allow you to accomplish all that God wants for you.
Why do so many Christians fall away? The number one reason is the lack of a prayer life and the lack of reading His Word. It’s having “No Time For God.” I challenge you this week to start developing that relationship with Him again. You might have slacked off a little. Take this as a wake-up call to get back on track. That’s what I’m going to do.
w/muchluv,
geno
SHINE YOUR LIGHT!!! YOU ARE THE ONLY JESUS SOME MAY SEE TODAY!!!
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