Time

Time. Everyone has the same amount. It goes at the same speed for everyone and yet some people can get more accomplished with their time as others do. That's what I'm struggling with and part of the reason I haven't posted anything in almost a month. One discipline I need to work harder at mastering is time management. I find it difficult to get things finished with 2 jobs, lots of reading for school and papers to write, family time, trying to have something prepared for the Friday morning Bible Study, plus any other extra activities that come up. I'm not complaining because I know it can be done, I think I just need to better prioritize my time. Part of me says, "This is just a phase of my life right now and things will slow down or something at some point."

I would imagine that everyone at some point in time as struggled with maximizing their time to get the most out of it. The busier I get doing some very worthy things, like going to seminary and attempting to share from the scripture with some men at breakfast, I can all too easily let those things crowd out my personal time worshiping the God who should be at the center of all of this. There are creatures in Heaven doing nothing but worshiping and praising God and when we get to Heaven that's what we'll be doing non-stop. Let's face it, if worshiping God in Heaven is what our time will be filled with, shouldn't we take time and make it priority here on earth to worship Him here and now. What better way to spend our time.

So what does Worship mean? To worship God can be described as "to ascribe the proper worth to God, to magnify His worthiness of praise, or better, to approach and address God as He is worthy." (Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life) Whitney also describes it as focusing on and responding to God. Since we are not in Heaven yet worshiping as the Heavenly Hosts worship, we can know God and focus on Him as He has revealed himself to us from creation, the Bible and Jesus. As we learn His word and meditate on it we learn more about His attributes and in turn finding ourselves wanting to worship Him more. We see God in Jesus as we study His word as well.

Over the past several Sundays, a friend of mine has been teaching a class on the Trinity at church. When we realize that Jesus was fully God and fully man we can learn so much about God from Jesus because He walked and lived here on earth. A familiar passage is John chapter 1. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (verse 1) Jesus was with God in the beginning and was obedient to his Father when he came to earth out of love to save us from our sin. What more do we need to encourage us to worship Him more. What can we fill our time with that is more important than offering God the worship that He, not only deserves, but delights in. He is worthy of all the honor, praise, and glory we can give.

Lately I've also been reading the major and minor prophets for school and am reminded of God's covenant keeping character. The nation of Israel, time and time again, hung on to their foreign gods and diluted their worship to their true God. They were disobedient and yet God warned them over and over through the prophets to turn back to Him or He would judge them. Ultimately the nation was taken into captivity as a result of their unfaithfulness and disobedience. But, through all this, God was always faithful to restore His people as He promised and bring them back to their land.

As I think of my own life, I can see how I can let foreign gods (anything that takes my attention away from the true God) distract me. I pray that I will focus more on Him and respond to what He is saying to me and leading me to do. I am so thankful to His promises to me and His love for me even when I act like the nation of Israel. May we all worship God for who He is and what He's done and be people who others can see Him through us as we worship.