Life always moves at a frantic pace. It seems to me that I hardly have time to do anything with my schedule each week. But what does that say about me as a Christian? About us as followers of The Lord? How am I spending my time? How are you spending your time? When I actually slow down for a second and look at the way my job and other activities fill up my week, it makes me think seriously about how I’m budgeting my time. The Lord has blessed my life with many different things, but most recently, after graduating from college, He blessed me with a great career opportunity.
Over the past year, while this has been a great blessing, it’s just one example of something positive that the devil can use to negatively affect our walk with God. Whether it’s work, school, recreation, or anything else, there must be a balance. Each day, the world constantly tells us what should be important, whether it’s job status, wealth, popularity, or anything else. Sometimes I find myself falling into this line of thinking. If I’m really honest with myself, this all comes down to my priorities. Nobody is perfect. However, there is no excuse for prioritizing anything over our Lord and Savior.
“You shall have no other gods before me.” – Exodus 20:3
We’re all familiar with the ten commandments, and this seems like a pretty easy one to keep, but in reality, this is one that can sneak up on us.
We could have perfect attendance at church and say a prayer before bed every night, but still be worshipping other things. How are we truly worshipping Him throughout each day? Is it just a Sunday and Wednesday thing where we’re punching the clock and worshipping inside the building for a few hours? Or are we worshipping Him with each step we take no matter where we are?
This doesn’t mean we can’t work hard at our careers, or have any fun at all. It comes back again to our priorities. I can work hard at my job each week and even put in overtime, but if I’m so focused on getting to the top at work that I don’t even pick up my Bible once outside of church during the week then something’s gotta give. If I didn’t pray today because I was too busy texting my friends or checking Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter then I’m putting my social life before my relationship with the One who created me. It doesn’t seem like a big deal because it’s not like I’m stealing something. It’s not like I’m committing murder or adultery. It’s just my daily life! Right?
It might not be as obvious but this is something that we can’t take lightly as God’s children. It’s easy for me to sit here and talk about how these things effect our relationship with The Lord, but how do we fight this deceptive sin that we might not be fully aware of until we put our lives on pause and look at what we spend our time on?
A few simple things can help us avoid the trap of worldly life:
“I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” – Psalm 119:11
First: Dive in daily. What I mean by that is to jump into God’s word each and every day. Even if it’s not a lot, just reading a verse or two can help shape your entire outlook on a given day. Reading His word puts us in the right mindset and helps keep us on the straight and narrow.
Pray without ceasing.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Second: Talk to your Father. Don’t neglect the one person who will be there no matter what. Often times, when worldly troubles, or life, gets in the way we talk amongst our coworkers, friends, and family. Instead, both before our life interferes, or after, we should be constantly talking to God each and every day.
“It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” – Psalm 127:2
Third: Remember the importance of rest. Just stop everything every now and then and give yourself a chance to reflect and rejuvenate from the busyness of your day. If we don’t ever take time to separate ourselves from the daily rush we might get lost in it. Time of reflection happens to also be a great time for prayer and reading God’s word.
Misplacing God on the list of our priorities is something that is a very real threat to our spiritual walk with Him.
Derek Land
Pursuing The Path 