Yesterday Darryl encouraged us to think about how much time we spend with God whether in prayer, in the Word, or in doing His will (which could include many activities). We have talked about this before but considering how many times God’s people in the Bible had to be reminded of things I don’t think talking about something more than once is bad. Last week I too thought about how I spend my time. I have written before about how I felt I spent too much time on social media, mainly Facebook, when I could be doing other things, literally anything else. Last week I suddenly realized just how pointless and almost detrimental to my happiness my time spent on Facebook had become. I decided right then to do something about it. I know many of you don’t use Facebook so let me describe in a nutshell the problem part. When you first login a homepage opens showing the most recent updates from all of your “friends” almost like a scrolling bulletin board. I used to spend hours, not necessarily all at once but throughout the day, scrolling through this list. There are a few people who only communicate with me through Facebook and I also am in charge of my work’s Facebook page. Therefore, instead of leaving Facebook completely, I edited my settings so that the opening screen is basically blank. If I want to see what someone has said, I would need to search through my list of “friends” and actually click their individual page. On the surface, this plan has worked beautifully. Now, unless I’m in an actual conversation with someone or posting for work, I rarely get on Facebook.
As the week drew to a close, I realized something that should have been obvious from the beginning. All along I thought the problem was Facebook when in fact the problem was me. I did not choose to fill that newly vacant time with God. I started doing other things like practicing the piano, hanging out with a couple of friends more often, looking for new recipes (as if I need more), etc. All those things in and of themselves are not bad. However, when the point of making a purposeful change in my life was to spend more time with God then that made my new choices just as bad as the old. I had replaced the world with just a different part of the world. “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first” (Luke 11:24-26). Why would I call those things more wicked than the first especially since I just said in and of themselves they aren’t bad? Because when I was on Facebook before, I KNEW I was wasting time that could be spent with God but now I could rationalize that my time was being spent productively… even if it wasn’t with God. God was not top priority in my decision making. I had not filled my “house” with Him.
We need to keep our mission in front of us so that our priorities are in proper alignment. This is hard for us as fallen beings with a tendency toward sin. “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9). We must ask God to help us know His ways and how to line up our lives in accordance with His will. Prayer is the key. “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15). Our God is an awesome God. He has the time and ability to listen and consider every single prayer of every person on this planet. He has promised this and we must claim that promise. As we spend more time with Him, the more we will want to spend with Him! And if you find it hard to take time out of your busy day just pray that He will help you set aside more time. I encourage you to pray more, study more, and try to be more aware of opportunities to share your faith. If we sincerely and fervently desire this, God will help us grow and ensure our “house” is filled with His presence.