#lovedevotionaltime - the importance of devotionals
“We live in busy times.” I guess every generation has used that excuse before. Busyness can be the very thing that stifles our relationship with God.
I believe most of us consider devotional time very important but it is hard to find the time without interruptions to actually do it. So I hope to share some thoughts with you about the importance of devotionals.
In Luke 10:38-42, there were two sisters Martha and Mary. As Jesus visited their home, Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Jesus and said.
“Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” Jesus replied, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
So how do we get that “good part,” that better thing that Mary was going after? The answer is simple; give Him some of our time.
We say God is the most important thing in our lives but if we were to look at our schedule and see how much time we actually spend at His feet we might see a need for change. We have 24 hours a day, eight to 10 of which are spent sleeping (maybe less for some), that still leaves us 14-16 hours a day to work, eat and have fun.
How much time during the day do we spend seeking Him? I hope we aren’t just giving the leftovers of our time, or just enough time to ease our conscience.
And when we do take time to seek Him, how exactly do we do that? I mean, how do we get closer to God? Firstly, we need to set aside consistent time in our day for this. Some tools to use in our time of seeking are reading the bible, worshipping God with songs or our words, praying and listening (listening probably being the most important of all). And we must not come half-hearted in these things, but with all of our heart.
We must also keep pressing through when we feel there is a wall or we feel we’re not hearing anything. At times our minds want to tell us that it might not be worth the perseverance, but the truth is God said that if we seek Him with ALL of our heart, we will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13). Like anything else in life, “No guts, no glory!”
What are some of the benefits of seeking God with all of our hearts? The Bible says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” Galatians 5:22-23. Who doesn’t want more of that? We may try to take shortcuts in life, seeking those attributes in other things, but we will never find them in the world, only in Jesus himself.
So, I would like to challenge you to take at least one hour out of your day for the entire next week for devotional time. You can do this alone or with someone else. I know you won’t regret it; in fact you will be blessed. After a week you should notice a difference! Then share your results with someone else.
Psalm 53:3 says, “God looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God.” Friends, if we want a better relationship with Jesus (and more peace, joy, etc) lets make seeking Him a priority. We won’t be disappointed!
Wesley and Sigi Ribeiro pastor at Sandpoint Christian Center.