Have you ever stopped to realize that as believers in Christ we have the awesome privilege and opportunity to meet, on a daily basis, with the Creator of the universe! Imagine the God who put all the countless trillions of stars in their orbits, who populated our planet with eight billion people, and who is from everlasting to everlasting delights to meet with you every day! My question to you is do you equally delight to take advantage of this amazing one on one meeting on a daily basis? Or are you too busy to carve out quality time to meet daily with your Lord and Savior?
My friends may I suggest to you that if you haven’t developed a daily habit of meeting with Jesus by reading His Word, personal devotions, and prayer then consider what you are missing out on. I pray that you would reprioritize your day to include this meeting – I guarantee you will be blessed.
Too often well-meaning Christians get so busy in doing the work of the Lord that they find little time to meet with God. If this is you then may I suggest that you are then too busy. While doing kingdom work is important, we can get so busy in this that we forget that God desires intimacy with us and wants to spend quality time with His children. I like what Pastor Charles Swindoll shares on this point: “To be used of God. Is there anything more encouraging, more fulfilling? Perhaps not, but there is something more basic: to meet with God. To linger in His presence, to shut out the noise of the city and, in quietness, give Him the praise He deserves. Before we engage ourselves in His work, let’s meet Him in His Word… in prayer… in worship.”1
May I submit to you if we aren’t starting the day with our personal devotions we will be facing the day not only lacking the spiritual energy we need to run the Christian race, but we will be depriving ourselves of this most wonderful activity of communing with our Lord. God created us to have a personal relationship with Him and there is no better way to cultivate this relationship than to start each day in reading the Scriptures, prayer, and personal devotions.
May I suggest several ways to develop a vibrant daily devotional life that will truly bring joy and strength to face the challenges that each day brings.
First, set aside one hour each morning as your quiet time to be alone with the Lord. If you say that it’s too hard to get up this early then may I suggest you go to bed one hour earlier to make time for your morning devotions. This time is so important I strongly urge you to readjust your schedule to make time for Jesus.
Second, decide what you want to include in your morning quiet time. I know for me I like to listen to the audio version of the Bible each morning, I read three different daily devotionals, and spend time just talking and praying to Jesus. As you make this morning private time with the Lord a daily commitment, I believe the Lord will help you fill this one hour with joyous intimacy with Him.
Third, make sure you approach this daily meeting with the right attitude. As I have shared in several past devotions we need to view everything we do for Jesus with an attitude of delight rather than duty. When you do this I believe you will find your morning devotional time the most joyous and wonderful part of your day.
And fourth, expect God to provide you with fresh spiritual manna each day that will not only carry you through the day, but will help you fall more in love with Jesus. Not only that but God, I believe, will show you His will, and share insights that will help you throughout the day to bring Him more glory.
May I challenge you to meet with Jesus every morning for one hour. In my opinion this time alone with our Savior will revolutionize your walk with the Lord and provide you with more spiritual energy and direction for the day ahead.
1 TOP 25 QUOTES BY CHARLES R. SWINDOLL (of 353) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)