Are there things in your life that you love to do? I'm sure there probably is. Everyone I know has a passion for something. Whether it be to sit down and read a good book, go out and hike some trails, take a nice long bike ride or maybe its end the day with a nice long bath. No matter what it is that you always are looking forward to doing, there is probably an excitement that wells up inside of you when you finally have time for that thing.
That is how I picture God when we set aside time to be with Him. That He has been waiting for you to come back to Him since the last time you were with Him, and He is excited about it! But do we get as excited as He does? I would like to think that it would excite us to be alone with God, or to at least be in His presence. But when given a choice there are so many other things that get us more excited than that. Now I'm not saying that we shouldn't have things we enjoy and I'm not saying that every free minute should be spent in your quiet place with God. But I am asking if you have things in your life that get you more excited than your time with God. If so, you may need to ask yourself the question "do I have this thing, or does this thing have me?". One of the things I firmly believe is that everything in our life has a priority, even if we consciously don't realize it, it does. We, in our mind or emotions, have an order of importance that we put on things. And sometimes when we get honest and take the time to evaluate what has our time, we realize God is not really at the top of that list. That there are so many other things come before our "time with Him". And we justify it by thinking that just because something has our time doesn't mean it comes before Him, but I would challenge you to reconsider that thought. What has your time, has your attention. And what has your attention has a priority in your life.
Again, I am not saying that God does not want you to enjoy your life or things you love to do. In fact, He is the one who designed you, so if you are walking in His will then the things you love to do are probably passions He has put in you. But they were never meant to come before Him. Everything we invest our time or our energy into should have a place below God. Meaning, if you are going to do the thing "you like to do" today, then you should have already spent some time with God. And if you haven't given Him His time yet, then you really should be giving Him that time first. It is a lot like tithing. God doesn't want what is left over after you have spent all you felt like you needed to, He wants the tithe first. He wants you to consider Him first, and then trust Him to make what is leftover do what you need it to do. Well the same goes with your time. God doesn't want your leftovers. He really wants the best you have to offer, first. And why shouldn't He, considering He already gave us His son, the best He had to offer. When you begin to show God that kind of love and respect, offering Him your best first, He will bless you for it. You will find more fulfillment in the things you do enjoy because you will know that you've placed God above it where He belongs.
God is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14), and why shouldn't He be? He created us to be in relationship with Him and worship Him. He gave us His best. He supplies our needs and even the desires of our hearts. I would say He has every right to want our best in return. But again, outside of all of that, I just want Him to feel my love back to Him by knowing that I put Him above all things. And as I finish this blog let me humbly say....do I get it right every day, no, as I am sure many people who are reading this right now don't. But the key is to not just accept that, but to say I can do this better God. I can give You what You deserve...I can give You more of me and the best of me!
God, thank You that You are so patient with us. I don't know how You do it, but Your love for us, Your grace and mercy toward us, and Your ability to never give up on us blows my mind daily. Help us put the things in our lives in their proper place and give You the best of us..first! Holy Spirit, please correct and direct us so that we are walking in full alignment with God's will so we are giving Him the ability to fully bless us in every way that He has planned for our lives. And as we are being filled by Him, help us to pour out to others so they can experience His love too. In Jesus name, Amen
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