LOOKING FOR HIM? GO BACK TO THE OLD PATH
When we were much younger in the faith, before we had families, while we were schooling, longing for God and wanting to grow in our spirit man was natural. We wanted to be who He wants us to be and be at our best in His service. We didn’t want to be carnal or handle Christ’s service with the arm of the flesh.
Nowadays, it seems the higher we go, the cooler we become. No more longing for God or digging deep for spiritual nuggets. We rush over our quiet time in a bid to meet up with the resumption time at work. We seldom find time to meditate on the Bible, talk less of comparing scripture with scripture.
Reading Christian literature is now an ancient practice and even though we once longed to have money to buy some good Christian books, our resources are diverted to nurture the body and other issues that have no eternal value.
We may buy CDs with pre-recorded messages but do we really have time to listen despite the slogan- ‘a message a day keeps the devil away’? How about church attendance- late coming, sleeping during messages, distractions (e.g. from receiving/making phone calls) and the likes are the words that describe us while we are at His sanctuary. If we jot messages while in church, hardly do we go back to review and meditate on them. We only take down notes as a matter of tradition. All these leave us unrefreshed and spiritually deformed. The fact is that once we don’t have time to feed our spirit man, we’ll sure be lean and famished spiritually. Any living thing that refuses to grow and replenish will sure die and decay. Probably we are rotten at the moment.
Take a challenge from the unbelievers, no matter how tight their schedules, they still find time to do things that are important to them. Politicians no matter how busy and sought for in every area of their jurisdiction always find time to be at whatever function will speak well of them to their subjects. Sport-lovers do just anything to watch their match. Some even go to the extent of watching while on transit either from portable televisions or Smartphones. Think of people eating, browsing, charting on phone, reading, listening to music while on a public bus. In fact, I know a very busy senior officer at work who still finds time to read all sort of novels. The fact is wherever there is a will there is a way.
All men always have a longing for the creator in their soul. Once the vacuum created for the almighty God is not filled, you remain unsatisfied and craving, no matter what achievements and successes you have in other areas of life. Our quiet time must be enriching for us to live a Christ-filled and fulfilled life. May I ask you, which Bible passage did you read this morning and what did you tell God in prayer? We must make efforts to go to bed on time so we can wake up early in the morning like our Lord did in Mark 1:35. This is necessary, so we can touch heaven before the hustle and bustle of the day begins. Remember- No Bible, no breakfast; No scriptures, no sleeping!!
Beyond our devotions, we must find time to rub minds with great saints who lived before us by reading their books. You laugh, where is the time? Yes! Like I said earlier, where there is a will there is a way. You can use the following tips to find time. Carve out few minutes before/after the day’s work. Use your break-times in the office. Read while you are not selling in your shop. Judiciously use your weekends, leave, and day off and the likes. Read and listen to mp3/Audio messages while on a long transit.
Lastly, if you have lost all the cravings for more of Him and your mind is crowded with the things of this world, ”turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace”. He’s drawing us to a closer walk with Him and it is best for our soul in this end-time, if we yield to His promptings. May the Lord give us understanding and grace. Amen