Life can get very busy very quickly. Work can pile up, studies can get extremely overwhelming and obligations can eat up your hours. In the midst of the busy-ness of life, it almost becomes automatic that the first thing we give up is time with God.
How can we make sure that we don't keep sacrificing time spent in God's Word and His presence?
It all starts with two words: plan and pleasure. Do you have a plan to stick to keeping your precious time with God, and do you find pleasure in being with Him?
Joshua 1:8 reminds us, "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."
Here are five strategies to cling to God's Word even in the midst of great busy-ness.
1. Commit To A Time To Read The Word
The first step to be able to really stand firm on anything is to commit to it. Commitment calls that we actually set a time on a daily basis and stick to it. One great way to do that is to put your devotionals in your calendar and set a reminder if it's a digital one. Sticking to one time every day is the best practice.
2. Create Or Adapt A Bible-Reading Plan
Proverbs 21:5 tells us, "The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty."
Planning is the key to success in anything, even in sticking to and thriving in your time alone with God. In the same way that planning leads to financial abundance, it also leads to spiritual abundance when we create or adapt a Bible-reading plan.
3. Take Every Opportunity To Pray In The Spirit
We build up our faith by spending time praying in the Spirit in God's presence. Jude 20 encourages us saying, "But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit."
When we pray in the Spirit, we experience God's power and thus start to value time with God more.
4. Hide God's Word In Your Heart
Psalm 119:11 also says, "Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors."
Keeping God's Word in our heart entails that we not just read God's Word but take it into memory and into heart. We don't always have to be holding a Bible to digest God's Word.
5. Treat Bible Reading As More Than Compliance
The psalmist once said in Psalm 119:24, "Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors."
Many times Bible reading can become nothing more than religious compliance. We think too much about how many scriptures we have to read and how long we need to spend time with God. Devotions were never meant to be religious compliance but to spark spiritual delight instead.
