Luke 12:34 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
What’s our excuse?
A couple of Sundays ago, I used a rope illustration during my sermon. I taught on Deuteronomy 11:18: “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” I showed what one year looks like. Here’s a brief summary: an 8ft rope represented a year of our life. About 2.5 feet showed the amount of time we sleep, almost 3 feet showed how much time we spend with our job responsibilities, 1.5 feet stood for how much TV we watch, and only 0.5 inches were how much time we are at church if we attend EVERY Sunday, 52 weeks a year. That went up to 2.2 inches if it includes Sunday school, having daily quiet time, and also attending a weekly Bible study (and that’s if we don’t miss a day of quiet time or a week of church, Sunday school, or Bible study).
As I was studying this, it was a “Whoa!” feeling and made Kristin and me stop and reassess what we are spending our time on. And, of course I know we are all different. God didn’t make any of us the same. Some of us sleep more, sleep less, watch TV less, and so on. I hope everyone has taken some time since my sermon and really thought about and prayed about where you spend your time. What do we do with our time and money? What are we willing to make time for? If we say we have some “free” time, then what do we spend it doing? Can we make time for a simple Bible study or are we too busy? We make time for our favorite event (football game, play, child’s event), but what happens when the Word of God is not on the top of our list or even on our list at all? What must we do to put scripture and the church first? Sounds like a challenge for all of us.
Luke tells us that where our treasure is, our heart is. I would say we can take that scripture another step today. Where our time is spent, our heart is. Is our heart on God? God wants our hearts to be set on HIM first and foremost!
Let’s take some time in September to pray about and for our hearts. I pray for not only Kristin and me (and our friends and family), but for our whole congregation. We know God is glorified when we are following and sharing His Word. How can we go out and share scripture with others if we don’t know what scripture says? Yes, having a daily quiet time takes time and needs to be put on the top of your “to-do list.” What are you spending your time doing the most? What does your day normally look like?
What’s our excuse?
A couple of Sundays ago, I used a rope illustration during my sermon. I taught on Deuteronomy 11:18: “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” I showed what one year looks like. Here’s a brief summary: an 8ft rope represented a year of our life. About 2.5 feet showed the amount of time we sleep, almost 3 feet showed how much time we spend with our job responsibilities, 1.5 feet stood for how much TV we watch, and only 0.5 inches were how much time we are at church if we attend EVERY Sunday, 52 weeks a year. That went up to 2.2 inches if it includes Sunday school, having daily quiet time, and also attending a weekly Bible study (and that’s if we don’t miss a day of quiet time or a week of church, Sunday school, or Bible study).
As I was studying this, it was a “Whoa!” feeling and made Kristin and me stop and reassess what we are spending our time on. And, of course I know we are all different. God didn’t make any of us the same. Some of us sleep more, sleep less, watch TV less, and so on. I hope everyone has taken some time since my sermon and really thought about and prayed about where you spend your time. What do we do with our time and money? What are we willing to make time for? If we say we have some “free” time, then what do we spend it doing? Can we make time for a simple Bible study or are we too busy? We make time for our favorite event (football game, play, child’s event), but what happens when the Word of God is not on the top of our list or even on our list at all? What must we do to put scripture and the church first? Sounds like a challenge for all of us.
Luke tells us that where our treasure is, our heart is. I would say we can take that scripture another step today. Where our time is spent, our heart is. Is our heart on God? God wants our hearts to be set on HIM first and foremost!
Let’s take some time in September to pray about and for our hearts. I pray for not only Kristin and me (and our friends and family), but for our whole congregation. We know God is glorified when we are following and sharing His Word. How can we go out and share scripture with others if we don’t know what scripture says? Yes, having a daily quiet time takes time and needs to be put on the top of your “to-do list.” What are you spending your time doing the most? What does your day normally look like?
