Time for God?

You wake up at 7:30 a.m. You have exactly 45 minutes to get to school, and you know that the trip will take at least 15 minutes because of traffic. You now have 30 minutes to shower, pick your clothes for the day, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush your teeth, comb your hair, kiss your mom goodbye, and get in the car. You're in school for 7 and 1/2 hours, an hour and a half of that being lunch and time in between classes. You get homework in three of four classes. By the time you get out of school and take your younger friends home, it's 4:15 p.m. You're meeting a buddy at the YMCA at 5 p.m. to work out, so you do a couple of math problems, then you pack your gym bag and head out. You and your buddy exercise for an hour and half, then you clean up and head home. You walk in your house just in time to sit down for supper. There's a basketball game at 7:30 you were planning on going to and it's now 7:00. You clear the table and run back out to the school. The game lasts around two hours (you stick around a little to talk) and then you head back home for the evening. You get on the computer to IM all your pals (the ones you just saw at the game and the few who didn't go) and check some movie news on the internet. At about 10:30 p.m., you decide to finish your homework. Around midnight you get finished, so you slip out of your clothes, slip on your pajamas, brush your teeth, and hop in bed, knowing you are just 7 and 1/2 hours from doing close to the same thing again.

Hectic, huh? Adjust it for your life. You headed to work instead of school. Maybe instead of the YMCA, you had track pracitce. Instead of a basketball game you went to a concert. After making your personal adjustments, this is a fairly accurate description of an average day, isn't it? You forgot some things, though. When did you pray? When did you open your Bible and study?

"Christians" are cutting God more and more out of their lives. The Bereans might have "searched the scriptures daily" (Acts 17.11), but we just don't have that kind of time. As long as we make it to the later service at church on Sunday morning (even if we are ten minutes late), that's all God needs from us. Just come in and remind Him that we're here, and we'll be okay. Is that what Christianity is about? Is that what Jesus died for?

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6.33. Jesus said that. God's kingdom and righteousness should be the most imporant things in our lives. To most people, though, being a Christian is just something we do if we have time for it. "Hi, my name is ___________. I'm in the band, I'm president of _______, I work at __________, and I'm a Christian (most of the time)." Christian isn't just a name. Being a Christian isn't the same as being a member of the football team, or a drummer in the high school band, or an employee for a major fast food company. True Christianity is an identity: it is who you are, not something you do!

Now, as you be a Christian, it will show in the things you do (or don't do). "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works." James 2.18. A true Christian will say no to getting drunk on the weekend, no to being more intimate with their boyfriend/girlfriend than is permitted by God's law. We need to be Christians and not just say that we are. We need to focus on being a Christian before anything else, allowing this to decide what we do and how we spend our time.

Maybe fifteen minutes of your lunch break spent in Bible study would be achievable. Since you saw everybody at the game, you could leave the computer off. We have little trouble spending an hour and a half working out, but if you ask for 30 minutes of Bible study, you're asking a lot of us. "For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."
I Timothy 4.8. Exercising our body helps us in this life, but exercising our selves to godliness helps us in this life and in the life to come. Which should be more important to us? "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5.16b), but we have a hard time even stopping to thank Him for our food.

Maybe at the beginning of this you decided, "This isn't me." You already decided that this doesn't apply to you. Or maybe you're thinking, "He's talking about me!" We need to remember we all have room for improvement (my inspiration for this article is looking at me in the mirror). We can never be "too good" of a Christian. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
I John 1.8-9.