Honoring God With Time

>> Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Recently, I have been thinking and studying about the practice of devoting time to be alone with God (through prayer, meditation, and study) and I have been amazed (sadly) at the ease with which Christians “lightly esteem” God and His Word by failing to devote any significant time to the study of His Word.  We come up with our reasonable sounding excuses (to us)…”Oh, I must first do such-and-such a chore; so-and-so needs my attention at this time; I can’t rise early because I work much and need my rest”…and our minds think in a manner that places ourselves and our needs at the center of our thoughts, instead of God.  But, since when are we to place ourselves foremost in our minds?   Since when has God been officially relegated to second place?   Since when are we to rely on us to meet our needs?  


We often deceive ourselves into thinking, for instance, we are placing God first in our lives just because we think we desire to honor Him by doing things like spending time in the study of His Word and prayer, or “desire” to meet the needs of our brother who needs help with a project, or “desire” to devote more time to the needs of our families.  We think that desiring is enough, but God demands that we place Him first in everything, heart, mind, and deed.   Anything less is dishonoring to Him. 


Measuring our commitment to God by our desire alone is dangerous in-and-of-itself.  If it is true that “the heart is above all deceitful” then it is folly to measure our “desire” only by our heart.  We must also measure ourselves against the written word of God, and the Word of God is very clear on the issue, saying…”faith without works is dead” (James 2:20)…and…”it is by his deeds that a lad distinguishes himself (Proverbs 20:11).”   Those commands present for us the absolute standard by which our devotion to God is measured; by our heart and our deeds…the internal and the external.  So desire is a dangerous measure.    No doubt some are sincere in their “desire”, but I doubt that most are.   Usually we “desire” but don’t do the things we know we should but don’t want to.   


God gives us all different tasks to do in life and some are called to do things that are seemingly more spiritual things then others, but that matters not.  We are all called to different tasks.   What matters is that we do our best and bloom where we are planted (give it the old college try, so to speak) and place God first in our life, doing what we can for His glory, as we can, when we can.  This is what God asks of us. 


If we truly desire to love and honor God (in our hearts) that desire will translate into good deeds (I Samuel 2:30).   Placing God at the center of our heart and mind instead of ourselves should produce a radical change in our lives, an internal change that, if true, will be evidenced externally.


I could go on, but I am learning that shorter is better for blogging and this post is getting to be too long, so I had better wind things up.


I would encourage you to read Malachi 1:6-8, and verse 14 of the same chapter.  The context is God speaking to Israel concerning their putting other things before Him, ultimately resulting in Israel offering defiled sacrifices on His altar, among other things.  Frequently, the things we place ahead of God and the way in which we place them are more subtle and less terrible seeming then what we see in Malachi, but the result is still that our sacrifices are defiled and God is dishonored.   “May it never be!” (Romans 6)


Please, never allow the pursuit of God to be less important than anything, even sleep if it comes to that.   God will provide for us in ways that surpass our human understanding if only we honor Him as our Lord and Savior.  Let us never forget the words of Matthew 6:33:


But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”


May our sacrifices to God never be second best, but always true and pure.

8 comments:

Hillary January 8, 2009 at 8:02 PM  

Gah. That hurt. (One of those God shoving it in your face good kinda hurts) :D
I have been thinking along the same lines myself recently, actually. During a discussion on 1 Timothy 4:12 in church last Sunday someone brought up one of my favorite verses.
Jeremiah 29:13, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
It was the "all of your heart" that caught my eye. I seek Him like during my quite time, or before I go to bed...but with "ALL of my heart!?" If my heart is wholly devoted to Him it should not be a challenge; which causes me to think more deeply into exactly where my heart stands.

The other day I was noting how often we all prayed that God would help us to "keep our eyes on Him" in family bible study, and how often I forget it just as soon as I have prayed it. Obviously my heart is not entirely focused on Him. Which, once again, makes me wonder, just where *is* my heart, and why is it there?

Good thoughts. I am once again challenged, I shall now go and think about this for a while. :)

Hillary January 8, 2009 at 8:03 PM  

Did any of that make sense?

Mark Hutchins January 8, 2009 at 8:46 PM  

Yes, it did Hillary, and I quite agree with what you said. There are so many distractions that it's like we never prayed once we open our eyes. The hardest thing about it is...many of those distractions are unavoidable, even necessary things such as are encountered in everyday life. That makes it doubly hard to focus on God sometimes.

Thanks for the verse. That's a good one that I have not read in a while.

Hillary January 9, 2009 at 12:04 PM  

Oh good. I felt a bit scatterbrained while I was writing it and though it made sense to me, I was not sure if it would to anyone else ;)
I am thinking that perhaps some of the "unavoidable" distractions, could be turned around to not be distractions at all.
For example, some of my unavoidable distractions in daily life would be things like, Keeping tabs on John every morning, Studying, Keeping on top of my crew during Lunch clean up, Planning meals, etc...
Why *are* those distractions? What is it in them that distracts my focus off of Christ and the furthering of His kingdom? Are those things that, with discipline, can still be used as time spent with Him?
I cannot be in my room reading my bible and praying while I am supposed to be washing dishes and keeping tabs on my brother, but I am thinking that I *can* keep my mind on "heavenly things" (and I do not mean coffee here ;) ) while I am working.

Hmmmm
*More thinking*....

Brittany Cronin January 13, 2009 at 11:29 AM  

This was indeed a timely reminder for me. Thank you for the very convicting post.

Caitie February 3, 2009 at 9:17 PM  

Wow... But that kind of makes no sense!!! Are there not any other things to do in life? Does what you wrote mean try more daily devotions? Or, devotions whenever your' free? I am a little confuzed.....

caitie

Mark Hutchins February 6, 2009 at 8:06 AM  

Caitie,

My basic point is that we should make God a priority, not to where we exclude other aspects of life that need to be attended to (earning a living, schooling, spending time with family, etc.) but to the point where we squeeze out those things that are wasteful (video games, late night conversations with friends talking about nothing, etc.) and such.

Sorry if I was unclear!

Nathaniel December 1, 2009 at 6:52 AM  

Mark,

If we Christians are to praise God in all that we do, then how are we supposed to carry out the monotony of everyday life in such a way that is glorifying to God? I am a highschooler, and just yesterday, there were two people who came up to me to ask me about spiritual/moral issues. I was quite honored that this was the case yesterday. However, I wish to show others around me Christ even more and to make an even bigger impact in those around me through the power of God. Thank you for your time and advice!

In HIS Service,
Nathaniel Marshall

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