There was a part of the sermon that really got me thinking. Funnily enough, it wasn't even the main message of the sermon, but was rather a thought that I just couldn't let go of once it was brought up. The message was talking about our relationships with God and how we all usually "have time" for our relationship with God. But, there's usually a big difference between having time and making time. What's the difference? Let's step on toes to find out.
Let's start with prayer. I'll start with my own personal confession with my prayer time: I oftentimes use whenever I have just laid down to go to sleep as the time that I pray. I'll thank God for blessing me with another day, I'll pray about the relationships and people that I normally pray about on a regular basis, and then I'll cover my prayer request for the day. I normally make it all the way through....unless I fall asleep, of course.
Now, this doesn't seem that bad!....until I start to check my reasoning. Why do I pray just as I lay down? Because it is convenient for ME!...I'm not doing anything else while I'm laying there, so why not talk to God? .....this is a prime example of how laziness can creep into our relationship and allow us to not take it seriously. Giving God, the Creator of the Universe and the Giver of my salvation, my "leftover" time of day whenever I have nothing better to do is kind of sad to think about.
Now, let's scale it back to put it into simpler terms. To broaden the point here, we can even step further back and just talk about all relationships in general. So, instead of specifically talking about prayer, let's talk about talking. Have you ever just talked to a person at a time that was convenient for you rather than make time in your schedule to talk to them? Sure you have!....we all have! We live in a fast-paced, demanding world: multi-tasking and fitting things into our schedules maximizes the number of things we can get done!
....both of these mentioned examples are exactly how we have time for God and the people in our lives, but we oftentimes do not go out of our way to make time for them.
Now, here's the main problems that I see with us having time rather than making time for the relationships and things most important in our lives:
1) Oftentimes, increasing the quantity of things we do can overall decrease the quality of the things we do. We may think that we are doing great because we are getting so many things done at one time. In one car ride, so much can be accomplished: We're taking large strides in the career we want. We appear to be making good efforts in the relationships that we are in. We are staying healthy. We are making efforts in our relationships with Christ. We are getting where we need to be. Now, all of these things are good things that should be managed and taken care of! But how well are you really managing and taking care of them all?
2) Pleasures can become obligations. Remember when you genuinely loved every second of talking to the person you were in a relationship with? You couldn't get enough! You cared about what they had to say, you asked questions about what was important to them, and you wanted nothing more than to make that person feel special. However, eventually with time, this can sadly fade. Different things in the world start to happen, and sometimes you'll find yourself just "having time" for that person because they are there and that's what you're "supposed" to do. Our relationships with Christ can oftentimes be like this as well. Once someone becomes a new believer, there is nothing more exciting in the world! You want to talk with Jesus, study His world, and worship Him continuously! But, as the pressures of the world pile on, this feeling begins to fade. Sometimes we'll even shamefully start to read the Bible or pray because "that's what a Christian is supposed to do everyday."
3) Busyness can tempt us to break a commandment from God. 1 Corinthians 16:14 says: "Your every action must be done with love." Love is a word that is thrown around quite a lot in our society....so much so that people are oftentimes unaware of its true meaning (which can be fully seen and explained in 1 Corinthians 13). The next time you have time rather than make time for Christ, someone you're in a relationship with, another believer, or even a stranger: ask yourself, "Are you truly showing love to them?" ...and not just the "I have to go to work now....But I love you!" kind of love. But are you truly loving that person in the way that God tells us what love is?
It's so easy to not take Scripture seriously sometimes. But, for us not to take God's Word and live it out in our lives is foolish. We have the greatest lifeline we'll ever need in this life at the tips of our fingers: and that's something worth taking seriously.
So, I challenge you as you go throughout the upcoming days, to make time: Make time to talk to Jesus sometime during the day when things seem like they're starting to get crazy. Make time to do or say something for the one you love even though it might not be convenient or comfortable for you. Make time to fellowship and build-up other believers. Make time to make friends and share the Gospel with a stranger.
Ultimately, show God's love by making time to love. Let the ones you love know that you love them. And make time to let this world know that there's a God who loves them more than they'll ever even begin to know.
