Before reading today’s post, read Psalm 119.
This past weekend I did several things around the house before spending time praying and reading my Bible. Usually, I do that first thing, then start my day. So, I finally made the time to sit and spend time with my Jesus. But before I did I took a picture to post. It made me pause after posting it and wonder “Why do I spend time with the Lord?”
I want to ask you the same question. What are our motives? I’ve mentioned before that I’m a children’s pastor, last week my lesson was about reading our Bible. How fitting that God would lead me to talk with you all about it also.
Are we spending time with the Lord to fulfill a duty, or check a box off on our to-do list, or to post a picture and post how “spiritual” we are, or only to get material for a blog post or a sermon, or to teach or correct someone? None of those things are bad. They all stem from spending time in the Word and with the Lord. But our main goal and the reason we spend time with the Lord should be to do just that, spend time with Him, learn who He is, what He says, what He desires from us. This makes me think of a quote, I can’t remember where I found it now but I think about it often. “Do not listen with the intent to reply, but with the intent to understand.” I think so often in our conversations with people and even our relationship with the Lord we are so quick to respond, to be on the defensive, to be in a hurry, that we don’t fully hear what people or the Lord are saying. If we are only reading the Word to write a blog post, or only reading the Word to fit a certain situation, how much are we missing out on?
It always amazes me the way the Lord works. The above text was written over the weekend. I’ve been praying about what comes next for this blog post and writing bits as I can. Today I was studying for my class at Bible school. This particular chapter I was working on is about Job. I think sometimes our attitude toward reading the book of Job can be to cringe, make a “poor guy” gesture, then either skim over it or assume that we know the content because he “endured suffering” and that’s it. Today, after reading this chapter I just can’t wait to read the book of Job! As I sat down tonight to work on this blog post I realized how much this chapter for Bible school went along with this post. That’s what amazes me about the Lord, He cares so deeply for you and for me, He orchestrates things so beautifully, to put this on my heart last weekend, I continued thinking about it, then to confirm it today.
The text in the book discusses the error in Job’s friends responses to his suffering.
“One lesson from Job we must take to heart is the warning from the failure of Job’s friends to appreciate the complexity of God’s relationship with His creation. God does not simply follow a recipe book but deals with each person individually. In Job’s case, even the ‘right’ answers proved to be wrong. We should learn from Job’s friends to avoid easy, pat answers in trying to understand human suffering and the depth of our relationship with the God who created both us and our world.” – Poetic Books, Global University
The book compares Job with his friends in that Job talked TO God, his friends talked ABOUT God.
“Job’s friends value their religions beliefs about God more than their relationship with Him.” – Poetic Books, Global University
Again I will pose the question, “What are our motives?” Why do you read your Bible, pray, go to church, go to a prayer service or Bible study? Is it because you want to “do the right thing” or is it because you want an individual relationship with the One True God? Do you or I do these things and only talk ‘about’ God? Do you find yourself only spending time with the Lord when it is beneficial to you or only when you’re in a place of being unsettled? Do you find yourself going throughout your day without one thought of God or what His plans are for you that day, yet when you see someone you talk ‘about’ Him, never ‘to’ Him?
I want to challenge you to get to know Him. Love on Him. Worship Him. Just because He’s God. Listen to Him not to reply, not to state your problem, but listen and spend time with Him to understand, to hear what His plans are for your life. Read Psalm 119 again after reading this post. Read those scriptures with a new perspective. This chapter talks about obeying God and obeying His decrees. Speak these verses over yourself, verses like “I will praise you with an upright heart”, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”, “teach me your decrees”, “I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word”. Psalm 119:33-40 were my “theme” verses for 2015, I read them nearly daily and have so many notes in my Bible beside them. Ask the Lord to reveal the motives of your heart, He will. Ask the Lord to teach you to follow Him (verse 33) and to give you an understanding (verse 34) and He will do just that.