Time With God

One of the challenges from this week's sermon was to spend time with God everyday.  The longer I pastor the more I realize that this is a real struggle for most followers of Christ.  I think it's a struggle for several reasons.

One, we live such busy lives that's it's easy to get moving with our day and once we are on the move it's hard to hit the brakes to realize we never connected with God.

It's also a struggle because a lot of people think that connecting with God is bigger or harder than it really is.

And finally we get legalistic about time with God.  We think that we have to pray for an hour or read from the Old and New Testaments and throw in a Psalm and Proverb.  We get into a routine and pretty soon it's about the routine and not about the relationship.

Here's three truths about time with God:

1.  We make time for the things that are important to us.  That's a fact of life.  We start our day out and we make time to shower, put on clean clothes and fix our hair, makeup, etc.  We do that because how we look to people is important to us.  We make time to get to work on time.  And we make time for that quick stop in Starbucks.  We make time for the things that are important to us.

2.  Lots of little spiritual bites are better than one huge one.  I’ve discovered that to be spiritually fed it doesn’t have to be about one huge spiritual feeding that you check off the list before you walk out of the house in the morning.   Instead, I've found that practicing the presence of God, and as odd as this sounds, to nibble spiritually, all throughout your day is more affective than spending an hour one time a day.

3.  Legalism will kill any relationship.  When time with God becomes about following a rule and checking off a box, the relationship will stop growing because God is more interested in us - talking with us, walking with us, being a part of our lives - than He is in any rule we come up with.

Here are some tools I use to start my day off with God.  They are simple and don't take a lot of time.  The purpose of the tools are not to go deep but to start a conversation; a conversation that will hopefully continue throughout the day.  I hope they are helpful to anyone who's struggling to connect daily with their creator.

The Journey:  This is a daily email devotional produced by the staff of Fairfax Community Church.  It walks through a book of the Bible, one chapter at a time.  The idea is to read the chapter first and then use the provided summary and questions to engage the passage on a deeper level.  This is my favorite source right now.

Drive Time Devotions:  This is a 10 minute, daily podcast led by Tom Hollaway of Saddleback Church.  Tom is a gifted teacher and an all around great guy.  I've had the pleasure of having several conversations with Tom through the years.  He's the real deal.  Simply join the podcast and download them each day.  Tom developed this for the people in his church who commuted to work everyday - hence the name.

d365:  This is a really creative looking devotional.  It was recommended to me last week by a family member so I have not had time to really test it out.  It's designed with the college student in mind but looks like a great resource for anyone who likes a more hands-on, interactive experience.  Be sure to read the instructions first and enjoy the freedom it gives you.