My Idol of my Time

Idol: "Any person or thing regarded with blind admiration, adoration, or devotion (dictionary.reference.com)."

"You shall not make idols for yourselves...for I the Lord am your God." -Leviticus 26:1

One of the things that the Bible is pretty clear about is that God should be the number one priority in our lives. Our God is a jealous God, and He does not want anyone or anything to come before Him.

This is something that I would've said I was doing pretty well on. I wake up and do my quiet time, pretty consistently every morning. I'm really involved in ministry within the church. My boyfriend is a Godly guy, but even still, if the Lord told me to break up with him, I would do so. There are no "things" in my life that come before God.

Except...maybe my time. Sure, God gets time every morning. Maybe He even gets time throughout the day. But the question is, what do I think about more? Him? Or all the things that I have to cram into a day?

Let's be real here for a minute. I think a lot about my time and how valuable it is to me. I am quick to get annoyed if I feel as though someone is wasting my time. Certain people get scheduled into my life, based on when I am free, sometimes down to the minute. I have a planner that is completely full of things in each day, and I would feel completely lost and confused without it. I've even been putting off writing this blog, since I "haven't had the time."

Not very pretty, is it? I wonder what opportunities from God that I may be missing out on, due to my inflexible schedule. How many interactions with people have I rushed through, when He may have been trying to speak through me to them?

Obviously, there are things in my life that I can't cut out. Unfortunately, school and work are big chunks of my time that I have to keep. But, having said that, time is not something that I need to obsess about. If God wants something out of me, I firmly believe that He will provide for the rest. So, I need to start living like I believe that. God's work for me is of much more importance than the schedule I have for myself.

That all sounds fine and dandy, but how do I practically live that out? First of all, prayer. I know that it sounds cliche, but I want to start each day prayerfully asking God to remind my that this time I have on Earth is not my own. My purpose is to glorify Him, not prioritize my schedule. Then, I need to start living this out. I have to start seeing my interactions with each person I encounter as a blessing, not a burden. Lastly, and here's another cliche, I have to die to myself. This life is truly not about me. Even though I may want to rush through the things of my day to try and squeeze in a show on Netflix before I head to bed, that may very possibly not be what God has for me. And ultimately, it boils down to me knowing that His plan is infinitely better than mine.

"Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall." -Psalm 55:22

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