Something Is Not Going To Get Done

Have you ever realized that when you go to bed at night…every night, in fact… that you leave something to be done the next day? I’m sure that you don’t have all the laundry done, all the dishes put away, the house completely cleaned, yard work completed, etc., every night when you go to bed, right? In fact it’s become so commonplace to all of us that we’ve pretty much accepted this as fact.

So, why is it that oftentimes we put off spending time with God because we’re too busy, have too much stuff to do, etc.? Why do we make excuses for all of that other stuff not being done in our lives, but not for the one thing that matters the most?

It’s all about priorities. When God is the focus of our lives we’ll make him first, over all of the other items we need to do in a day. We take time to pray, read the Bible or a devotional, go to church, etc. When God isn’t the focus, we continually find other things that are more important. We watch our favorite TV shows, play around on Facebook, talk with people on the phone, etc., and put off God until we have time.

Now I’m not going to condemn all of us for not having the proper focus. Instead I wanted to bring up the fact that this is exactly what we’re all doing on a daily basis when we don’t make time for God. Instead of making Him second, we all need to make Him the priority and know ahead that because of our willingness to put things in the right order, some of the to-do list items just won’t be completed today. We need to start being ok with that, because those items that don’t get done aren’t the priority, God is!

Viruses

It seems that a lot of my time at work in 2011 has been spent fighting viruses on the office computers. No matter the security measures taken viruses always seem to creep onto the computers. Often times they go undetected for weeks or months before they have finally created enough havoc to be a real problem.

You do realize that this is the same thing that the devil is doing to each and every one of us daily, right? Every day he has these little attacks on us, many of which we don’t even realize are happening. It could be a TV commercial that puts something in your head. It could be a negative comment someone you work with says that gets you thinking the wrong way. It could even come in an e-mail or an advertisement on your favorite web sites.

No matter how much defense you have, at some point you are going to get infected. The key to making sure viruses don’t become major problems is to instead have good protection on the back end. You have to be able to take out the infections by the root and destroy them before they take over. This can be done in a number of ways, and only you can know what process is going to work best for you.

My point today is to realize that you are under attack at all times. Be ready to fight, as you are a part of the battle. Don’t become a casualty.

Just Ask

You know, one thing that is wonderful about kids is the fact that they aren’t afraid to ask for just about anything. They ask to stay up later than their bed time almost every night. When they get older they ask to borrow the car, to take your money, etc. They ask and ask and ask, knowing that at some point they will probably get what they want.

Contrast that with an adult. I think that years of being told no by others causes people to stop asking for things. The hopefulness of asking as a child has turned into a reality that more than likely we’re not going to get what we are asking for, so we stop asking.

Why do I bring this up? I do so because prayer is often about us asking for one thing or another from God. I think that often we don’t pray because we are afraid that we are not going to get what we are praying for. Instead of expecting to get what we are asking as a child would do, we expect to be let down and get to the point that we don’t even ask.

I’m writing this today to encourage you to just ask! God WANTS to answer your prayers. God wants you to expect to get an answer from Him. He wants to build you up so you can build Him up! It’s time that we all get over the let-down of the world and start expecting Him to take hold of our lives and give us the health, abilities, etc. that He is so willing to give.

Go ahead, I dare you to pray. I dare you to ask Him for those things. Let’s see what happens….together.

Lifesavers

The other day a strange thought came into my head. Somehow I started to think of people “of the world” as Lifesavers candies. They look sweet on the outside, are often different colors and flavors, but all have a hole in the middle. They are missing that something that would completely round them out. They are missing that relationship with Jesus in their lives.

So this week it’s simple: It’s time to help find the lifesavers and help them get filled. Who knew that lifesavers needed saving?

Repairs

Like many of you who read this, I own my own home. (Ok, the bank does, but I’m working on it!) With owning anything comes the inevitable: repairs. No matter how much you do to avoid them, at some point something is going to need fixing.

I’m going to keep this short and sweet this week and cut to the chase. If you truly own your relationship with God you’ll come to realize that at times there will be fixes that need to be made. You’ll work to maintain it, but as you put time and effort into one area there is bound to be something that happens in another. This doesn’t mean that you are failing, but instead you are experiencing reality.

There are too many outside forces for you and me to keep our relationship with God perfect. You’ll have stress in your life. You’ll get too busy and forget to pray or read your Bible for a few days. Remember that He is always there and is happy that you are doing all that you do to keep up the relationship. Without your efforts the whole thing could fall apart. Don’t be dismayed if a repair is needed from time to time. Instead glorify Him in all that you do, and keep up the maintenance and continue to work on any repairs that are needed when they arise. I’m sure He understands!