Some nights I get my teeth brushed and put my head on the pillow before realizing a crucial fact: I didn’t make time for God that day. Maybe I read a few verses here or there, but that intentional, uninterrupted time with my heavenly Father was missed.
“But I was busy,” I tell myself. The truth is, everyone is busy – busy with the things that we prioritize. At the end of such a day, we can tell ourselves that we know that time with God is important, but other important things came up, too. That’s when we have to evaluate the priority we give to our study time. We have to ask ourselves:
Was it less important than the football game that I had on?
Was it less important than the time I spent checking Facebook and Twitter?
Was it less important than that household chore that had to get done?
Was it less important than those articles I read online?
Was it less important than the tv show episode I watched?
Was it less important than that errand I had to run?
Was it less important than the workout I managed to get in?
Was it less important than the meals I made time to eat?
Was it less important than my time spent at work?
Was it less important than time spent with family?
While at least a couple of the things on that list are important and should absolutely be part of our days, we’d still have to answer that they don’t outrank spending time thanking God for the blessing of another day and asking for His guidance in our lives followed (or preceded) by time spent letting His word speak to us. Like me, most Christians verbally acknowledge the hierarchy of how our days should go… but that doesn’t mean we actually apply it. It’s all too easy for a day to go by here or there with a whole list of things getting done while our Bible remains unread and our prayer time remains unscheduled.
How do we change this? We have to take control of our days. Squeezing a few verses and a semi-conscious prayer in before falling asleep isn’t doing us any good. When we begin to say to ourselves “No matter what else happens today, I’m going to have my time with God,” then our habits will begin to change. Consistency is key. Having a set time (before work in the morning, at lunch, when you get home in the evening, or whenever else consistently works) makes all the difference. It’s so much harder to stay on task when you have to hunt for a place to squeeze it in every day, but when His time is budgeted, everything else falls into place around it.
What activities in your life are more important than your relationship with God? A dedicated Christian will always answer “none of them,” and so it’s critical that our actions match our answer. Make time for God today, and do it in a way that will help you make time for God tomorrow.
By Jack Wilkie