Everyone on this earth, now listen to what I say!
2 Listen, no matter who you are, rich or poor.
3 I speak words of wisdom, and my thoughts make sense.
4 I have in mind a mystery that I will explain while playing my harp.
5 Why should I be afraid in times of trouble,
when I am surrounded by vicious enemies?
6 They trust in their riches and brag about all of their wealth.
7 You cannot buy back your life or pay off God!
8 It costs far too much to buy back your life.
You can never pay God enough 9 to stay alive forever and safe from death.
10 We see that wise people die, and so do stupid fools.
Then their money is left for someone else.
11 The grave will be their home forever and ever,
although they once had land of their own.
12 Our human glory disappears, and, like animals, we die. Psalm 49:1-12 (CEV)
If you put my name in Google, it will probably send you to one of my blogs or it will make some connection with Energion Publications. If you see a picture of me, you know I am definitely in the “autumn” of my life! For some this may indicate I have had enough life experiences to gain wisdom and for others I will just seem really old! When I offer advice to my now grown children, I always add that I hope they will learn from my mistakes and not repeat them. So today I am sharing free, maybe even unsolicited, advice.
Make time for God in your life. That’s it. Pretty simple and maybe even obvious, but it is wisdom I have to intentionally choose to follow every day. There is always something trying to crowd my day and distract me from time to pray, to talk to God and listen. Could it be Satan who orchestrates these distractions? In this case I think I would be giving him too much credit. Life is just really busy.
If you are age 10-40, you might be reading this and thinking, “Lady, you have no idea what busy is!” And I could text my two children and have them relate to you all the activities they were involved in and how it was my responsibility to get them to all of them! So yes, even as I near what some call “retirement age,” I haven’t forgotten the insanity of holding a full time job, children, and a home. Despite that legitimate takeover of time, I would say to you most urgently and passionately how much I wish I had spent time with God every day. I know so many things would have been different, better, in my life. If it meant getting up 30 minutes earlier or closing myself up in the bathroom after the children were in bed to have 30 precious minutes to hear what God wanted to say to me every day – it would have been worth the loss of sleep.
It is not enough to go to church every week. No matter how wonderful the preacher is or even if you also go to a small group class, it isn’t enough. It has to be some daily contact. If you have a 30 minute drive every day to work, count yourself blessed to have alone time in the car to pray and listen to God.
God doesn’t want to spend time with you because He is lonely. He wants to spend time with you for the same reason you want to spend time with your spouse or your children. It’s all about love. He wants to hear your troubles. He wants to hear what’s on your heart. He wants to comfort you. He wants to heal your bruised spirit. He wants to give you the wisdom and strength you need for each day.
Give it a try – spend time with God every day from now until Easter. See if you notice any differences. Hey, this was all freely given advice (Matthew 10:8)!
Faintly written by John Barnett & sung by Lindell Cooley
