...when we love God, we naturally run to Him-frequently and zealously. Jesus didn't command that we have a regular time with Him each day. Rather, He tells us to 'love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' He called this the 'first and greatest commandment' (Matt. 22:37-38). The results are intimate prayer and study of His Word. Our motivation changes from guilt to love. Francis Chan
*Disclaimer: My thoughts on today's quote are lengthy but that means they are important to me!*
I've been a believer of God for a really long time. And most of that time I was told and taught to make sure I had my "daily quiet time" or else I just wasn't cutting it with God and perhaps I wasn't close to God at all. This is a widely taught and accepted mindset. Problem is that isn't exactly biblical but Pastors, Churches, and Sunday School teachers all over the place have tried to make it biblical. What has happened is a lot of guilt. Recently a friend of mine was relaying a story in which someone we know had spent some time in study of the word of God and then went to bed. Because of the timing they then missed their "regularly scheduled prayer time" and felt bad and guilty. WHAT? I was just dumbfounded. How is that of God? Well, I have news...it isn't. That guilt wasn't from God and is not authored by God. But we have been told that we should feel guilty if we don't get in X number of minutes or hours per day in. [SIGH] Can we all just pause, take a deep breath, and GET A GRIP? *grin*
Don't misunderstand me. Spending time with God is hugely important. It's the only way we'll get to know him and his character. So tell me this. While you've been trying to "log your time" have you gotten to know him and his character? Think carefully before you answer. God's character does not author guilt for not spending X number of minutes a day with him, or spending your time with him in whatever way you've been told it has to be. God's character does not want you to spend time with him out of guilt - forced or self-inflicted. God's character wants you to spend time with him because you love him not because he is a ritual that needs to be checked off the daily to do list. So have you really gotten to know God and his character? If you've allowed yourself to be guilted and have ascribed that to God then I'm going to suggest that perhaps you haven't really gotten to know him all that well. It's unfortunate that all this teaching that we must spend X number of minutes per day with him has motivated us to make God a ritual instead of a relationship. When we spend time with someone motivated by guilt and ritual we aren't really getting to know them, we're too busy making sure we've checked that time off our list and so we are distracted from the real reasons why we should be spending that time with them.
A few years ago I got fed up with some things and one of those things was this very topic. So I quit my little ritual that I had going on. I started spending time with God when I was really compelled to rather than checking it off my daily to do list. FREEDOM. I experienced a freedom that I hadn't felt before. I experienced freedom in his word, my communication with him, and in my relationship with him. I discovered that I loved God and I loved spending time with him when guilt wasn't my motivator or my reason, and when people no longer had a voice to approve - or disapprove - of how I chose to spend my time with him. I discovered that "loving God with all my heart, soul, and mind" was so much more than my little ritual and it was more encompassing than the 30 minutes I "gave up" for God. I discovered a freedom in my faith that hadn't been present before because all of a sudden I understood grace better, I understood God better, I understood my relationship to God better. And then I discovered that I no longer felt like I had to spend time with him but I wanted to. There's a big difference.
Now when I hear people say that they feel bad or guilty that they didn't spend any or enough time with God on any given day I feel sad and frustrated on their behalf. Most of the time they don't understand why and I can see them silently thinking that it's possible I'm going to hell for not being so dogmatic about "quiet times". *haha* But I figure if Jesus wasn't dogmatic about "quiet times" then it's probably okay I'm not either.
*Disclaimer: My thoughts on today's quote are lengthy but that means they are important to me!*
I've been a believer of God for a really long time. And most of that time I was told and taught to make sure I had my "daily quiet time" or else I just wasn't cutting it with God and perhaps I wasn't close to God at all. This is a widely taught and accepted mindset. Problem is that isn't exactly biblical but Pastors, Churches, and Sunday School teachers all over the place have tried to make it biblical. What has happened is a lot of guilt. Recently a friend of mine was relaying a story in which someone we know had spent some time in study of the word of God and then went to bed. Because of the timing they then missed their "regularly scheduled prayer time" and felt bad and guilty. WHAT? I was just dumbfounded. How is that of God? Well, I have news...it isn't. That guilt wasn't from God and is not authored by God. But we have been told that we should feel guilty if we don't get in X number of minutes or hours per day in. [SIGH] Can we all just pause, take a deep breath, and GET A GRIP? *grin*
Don't misunderstand me. Spending time with God is hugely important. It's the only way we'll get to know him and his character. So tell me this. While you've been trying to "log your time" have you gotten to know him and his character? Think carefully before you answer. God's character does not author guilt for not spending X number of minutes a day with him, or spending your time with him in whatever way you've been told it has to be. God's character does not want you to spend time with him out of guilt - forced or self-inflicted. God's character wants you to spend time with him because you love him not because he is a ritual that needs to be checked off the daily to do list. So have you really gotten to know God and his character? If you've allowed yourself to be guilted and have ascribed that to God then I'm going to suggest that perhaps you haven't really gotten to know him all that well. It's unfortunate that all this teaching that we must spend X number of minutes per day with him has motivated us to make God a ritual instead of a relationship. When we spend time with someone motivated by guilt and ritual we aren't really getting to know them, we're too busy making sure we've checked that time off our list and so we are distracted from the real reasons why we should be spending that time with them.
A few years ago I got fed up with some things and one of those things was this very topic. So I quit my little ritual that I had going on. I started spending time with God when I was really compelled to rather than checking it off my daily to do list. FREEDOM. I experienced a freedom that I hadn't felt before. I experienced freedom in his word, my communication with him, and in my relationship with him. I discovered that I loved God and I loved spending time with him when guilt wasn't my motivator or my reason, and when people no longer had a voice to approve - or disapprove - of how I chose to spend my time with him. I discovered that "loving God with all my heart, soul, and mind" was so much more than my little ritual and it was more encompassing than the 30 minutes I "gave up" for God. I discovered a freedom in my faith that hadn't been present before because all of a sudden I understood grace better, I understood God better, I understood my relationship to God better. And then I discovered that I no longer felt like I had to spend time with him but I wanted to. There's a big difference.
Now when I hear people say that they feel bad or guilty that they didn't spend any or enough time with God on any given day I feel sad and frustrated on their behalf. Most of the time they don't understand why and I can see them silently thinking that it's possible I'm going to hell for not being so dogmatic about "quiet times". *haha* But I figure if Jesus wasn't dogmatic about "quiet times" then it's probably okay I'm not either.
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