Sigh.
Yet again, I had to rush through my quiet time to get ready for class this morning. Yet again, I felt a twinge of guilt for cutting this time short. But yet again, I did nothing about it. In fact, I did it the next day and the day after that and the day after that. I couldn’t understand why making my quiet time a priority was so difficult.
The Choice to Change
From what I’ve observed, there seem to be three main reasons we struggle to make (and keep) God first in our lives:
- We’re human. Unfortunately, we all have a sin nature. Because of our sin nature, we constantly desire to make ourselves happy and fulfill our selfish goals.
- We’re distracted by worldly things. Our culture has so many attractive things to offer us, like wealth, fame, beauty, and attention. It promises to satisfy us if we accept its ideas and chase its temporary pleasures.
- We’re not making an effort. Rather than set goals to lay aside distractions and pray for God’s strength, we don’t even try to change our sinful habits. We could remove the things that keep us from obeying God, but instead, we try to pretend they don’t exist.
Sure, we can blame our flawed priorities on our sin nature or our culture—or we can take responsibility for our actions and put in the effort to change our priorities. Maybe the reason you don’t have time to read your Bible, pray, go to church, or serve others is that you aren’t making time for those things. Honestly, I don’t always make time for them either.
I don’t have time to read a few chapters of the Bible, but I do have time to check my email 20 times a day. I don’t have time to help a friend who’s struggling, but I do have time to sleep in. I don’t have time to confess the sins in my life, but I do have time to make sure my homework assignment is perfect. I don’t have time to sing praises to God, but I do have time to style my hair and choose a cute outfit. I don’t have time to talk to pray for a few minutes, but I do have time to write this post.
Nothing is wrong with having jobs or homework or hobbies, but if you’re too busy to spend time with God and reach out to the people He’s placed in your life, then you’re far too busy—and you may need to take serious action to reconnect with Him. You may need to spend less time playing sports, watching movies, scrolling through social media, reading books, or doing other activities so you can realign your priorities. There are simply more important things in life.
Worthwhile Sacrifices
Now flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. (2 Timothy 2:22 ESV)
Absolutely nothing is more important than our relationships with God. We must flee the things of this world to pursue His righteousness. It may be painful to change or give up current habits, but if they distract us from Him, the sacrifices will be worth it.
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