Strange
Imagine: A young lady becomes engaged to the love of her life. She spends several days searching for the perfect wedding dress. Hours are spent trying on dress after dress. She finally discovers the one-in-a-million dress that seems to be made just for her.
She marks the days off on the calendar; it seems her wedding can’t come fast enough. Soon the big day has arrived. Her hair is styled perfectly. The pedicure and manicure have been completed. She pulls on an old pair of jeans and grabs the sweatshirt she wore to breakfast that morning (with pancake syrup on it) and walks down the aisle to be pronounced her husband’s wife.
Something’s missing, right?
The wedding dress!
As weird as that would be, God hints that forgetting to spend time with Him every day is even stranger than a bride who would forget her wedding dress. Check this out: “Does a young woman forget her jewelry, or a bride her wedding dress? Yet for years on end my people have forgotten me” (Jeremiah 2:32 NLT).
We often make excuses about not spending time reading the Bible each day:
“I don’t need to actually read anything; I’ll just chat with the Big Guy.”
“I have too many other things to get done today. If I stop and make time to read the Bible, I may not have time for my friends.”
“Ahhh, God knows I love Him. I don’t think I really need to spend time with Him to prove it.”
Yet we’d go nuts if God ever used one of those excuses on us, wouldn’t we? Imagine asking God for help and getting one of these responses:
“Seriously? I have people praying from a war zone right now!”
“It takes a lot of strength to be attentive to bazillions of prayers around the world. I just need to take a quick nap.”
“Get in line. Others were praying before you bothered to send me yours.”
Aren’t you glad that when we call on our heavenly Father, He’s always there? And He’s always ready to meet our needs, hold us in His lap, and listen to everything we say.
What’s the most recent excuse you’ve given for not meeting with God? With His help, you can determine to make your daily quiet time with Him part of your lifestyle. Will you do it?
As we continue into 2016, commit to spend time with your heavenly Father every single day.
Try memorizing this:
“I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me” (Proverbs 8:17 ESV).
I do read my devotionals every day and I do need to get into His word every day. This year I prayed and asked God what he wants me to do for Him. So far I have served 3 funeral dinners for our church family. This last person is the lady who led me to the Nazarene Church and to the Lord when I was 12 years old. We sang Christmas Carols to her at the nursing home and I kissed her and thanked her for leading me to the church and the Lord. Somehow I knew she would be going home soon. I love the Church of the Nazarene! Love you too Susie! Hope to hear you speak in person soon again. You are gifted.