When my sister first got married, she moved with her husband to California. It was interesting to talk on the phone with her because within a few short weeks her southern drawl had been replaced by a distinct California accent (and let me tell ya, we Tennessee girls have a thick hick accent!). This same thing happened with two of my good friends who moved from Tennessee to Michigan. After a short while up north, their Tennessee accents were completely lost and they said they could no longer stand the slow pace of life here. I guess it really is true that we begin to act and sound like the people we spend the most time with. If we spend time with negative people, it is easy to become negative also. If we spend time with gossips, it is easy to become a gossip too. Likewise, if we spend time with God in prayer and Bible study, we will end up becoming like Him.
We women have so many demands on our time today. Too often our daily time with God is reduced to those last few seconds before we fall asleep at night or it is spent on the road driving the kids to school. It is pretty difficult to hear from God when you lay half-asleep, slobbering on your pillow or when you are concentrating on the speed limit while refereeing an argument between your children. How many times have you left God completely out of your day? (I know I have done it way more than I care to admit). ‘Busy-ness’ can and likely will be our spiritual downfall. When we become too busy for God, we become spiritually bankrupt. A wife/mother who is spiritually bankrupt cannot be a Godly witness to her family. The truth is that our relationship with God affects everyone around us!
I wrote in another post that I read a study that says the average Christian spends 30 seconds or less in prayer each day. How can we call ourselves followers of God when we dont even give Him 30 seconds per day to lead us? I really disgust myself sometimes with my often flippant attitude toward prayer and Bible study. I spend probably 45 minutes to an hour each day getting myself ready (ie makeup, hair, shower, etc) physically, but I am completely ashamed that there are days that I spend much less than that preparing myself spiritually.
We cannot expect to truly get to know God without spending quality time with Him everyday. The only way we will ever become like God is by spending time studying His word, praying, and listening for Him to speak to us. This doesn’t just mean getting into God’s word, it is also letting God’s word get into you. It is our responsibility to be Jesus to our families, but we cant do that unless we take the time to really get to know Him. We have to remember that life is not a sprint to the finish line, it is a long distance race. If you aren’t spending time with God, then you will not have the energy to finish the race, much less finish faithfully (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).
Disclaimer: The above message was intended strictly for the writer/owner of this blog. Please note that even though the above sounds exactly like sermon, the writer is not a preacher and does not play one on tv.
3 comments:
Friend, I hate to tell you, but I think that post was meant for me too ;-)
This is something I am trying to address in my life right now. Trying to put him first before anything. Praying for His mercy and grace in the process.
Great post!
Definitely meant for me as well.
This was a wonderfully written post...and very thought provoking. You're right...how can we expect to be like Him when we spend so little of our time with Him?
I dated a guy once who was NOT the guy for me. Not much good came out of the relationship, except that he once told me. "If you love God, and you're close to Him, then you will talk about Him. You won't be able NOT to talk about Him, because you talk about what you spend your day doing."
And to agree with Alana & Renee, this post was for me too. I think we always need to be reminded that God should always come first. Thank you for reminding me of that...because being in His Word & in prayer always makes my life so much more in line with Him.
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