This question
came up in Bible study the other day, “How much time do you read / study the
Word?” It was asked with wonder at how
much time we should be spending on
it. The leader, wanting to bring it into
perspective, brought up how we often tithe 10% so what would be 10% of our day-
2.4 hours. Of course if you did only
waking hours it would be about 1.6 hours.
Either way,
it is probably more time than most people spend in the Word. Imagine where we’d be spiritually if we all
did that amount of time. Yet still, if
that is all we do it doesn’t seem sufficient as it delegates only a small part
of our day to God instead of all of our time.
In that regard, I am reposting this to share how I think it really
should go…
My Mistake
The kids and I were sitting
around the table during one of our Bible teaching times, and we each had a
paper with a circle drawn on it in front of us.
We were to turn it into a pie chart as to how much time we spent on different
activities every day. Friends, family,
food, sleep, and whatever else we felt should be added like God time. I thought it would be easy, but no matter how
mine was adjusted, it just never seemed right.
Eventually I finished though unsatisfied with the results.
It wasn’t until several
weeks later I figured out what was wrong.
I had made a mistake in the very formation of my chart. See, it didn’t work no matter how big a piece
of the pie I gave the Lord, because it meant He was ‘left out’ of the other
pieces, and that never made sense to me.
The reality of how I try to live my life is more like the pie chart
being completed with the actual time I spend solely with Him each day allotted
in, but then a transparency being laid on top with the word “God” written on
top; because in actuality, I try to be with Him during all the things I do in
life.
Does that mean He comes to
the bathroom with me? Yep. Some of our funniest times have been in that
room. Is He there when I’m chauffeuring
the kids around? Yep. He makes the drive more interesting. What about when I’m vacuuming or doing
dishes? He definitely brings life to
those tedious chores. Whether I am
helping a friend, baking an apple pie, dealing with a school issue,
volunteering, shopping, or anything else in my life, my Lord, my Love is with
me in it all.
He’s like the transparency
in my life over everything I do, everywhere I go, over all the ways I fill the
time in my journey. Now that makes more
sense to me. Maybe it seems a little
crazy to some people, but I’d rather be seen as crazy with the Lord filling my
life than be seen sane with Him just fitting into a small portion of my life.
So the next time I have to
make a pie chart of activities, I know exactly what I’ll do. I won’t make the mistake of trying to fit God
into a piece of my life. Instead I’ll go
get a portion of clear plastic/ transparency/ saran wrap and place it over top of
my chart with the name of God written in permanent marker so it can’t be changed. No more mistake.
I am with you and will watch over you
wherever you go… Gn. 28:15 NIV
…for the LORD your God is with you wherever
you go. Js. 1:9 NKJV
I can never escape from your Spirit! I can
never get away from your presence! If I
go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell
by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength
will support me. I could ask the
darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— but even in
darkness I cannot hide from you. To you
the night shines as bright as day. Darkness
and light are the same to you. Ps
139:7-12 NLT