Take time to be holy!

If we have so much on our plates that we have little time left for daily prayer and Bible reading, study, and meditation, okay, let me be clear: we need to break a few of those plates! This is what I have on my radar screen and it’s making a beeping sound on this Wednesday, May 6, 2009. I didn’t wake up with the idea of beating anyone over the head with this recommendation but I very much know from experience how critical these activities are to one’s growth and development as a child of God. For me, when these get out of whack or they slip slide around and become secondary, that’s when I get out of whack, start slip sliding around, and will in short order become increasingly out of whack. Been there, done that, way too many times, but it is ever so easy to see this happen, especially with that incessant scream of the urgent that dogs our steps on a 24x7 basis.

This wouldn’t be that big of a deal if I were not God’s child and if He wasn’t interested in my growth and development. He has a way of getting our attention when we fail to take in the nourishment He has prescribed for us. His provision provides all that we need to become strong in our faith and able to accomplish all that He would have us to do. However, without the nourishment, we not only fail to accomplish the great things He has for us to do, but, we typically end up being miserable, out of sorts, and it shows not only in our personal life but in its impact on others. It really seems simple enough but unless we seek God’s help to even have the motivation to spend time with Him, study His Word, and work out our spiritual muscles, then we are fighting a losing battle because there will always be interference coming from all directions.

I mention asking God to help us with our motivation because to tell the truth just trying to muscle up on our own with grit and determination might cause us to go through the motions but typically not with the desire and expectation that comes from the inside out. We see the Psalmist always asking God to incline his heart or to cause him to desire to seek God in his life, in His Word, and in carrying out His plans through him. That’s about the only way I know to get this done with a need for the kind of hungering that seeks to be filled and builds us up over time as we grow in the knowledge and grace of our Savior. My experience tells me that we can’t really operate today on yesterday’s energy. We need God’s enabling power every minute for today! The good news is how He is willing to help us and He does respond when we are serious in our desire to hear from Him and do His will. There are some prayers you can always know that will be answered in the affirmative. One of these is the one that seeks God’s help in becoming all that He wants us to become. No, I’m not standing up on my high horse podium looking down on you, I’m just one beggar telling other beggars where to find bread. May we all find ourselves feasting on that bread that only He can provide. Amen. …More later.