Skip to main content

Take My Time

    Deciding to follow Jesus is not a decision we make flippantly. When we commit to Him, we commit to His ways and not our own. We release any of our worldly hopes and dreams and make way for His all-surpassing plans of magnificence for our lives. We surrender it all. (Or at least we are supposed to.)

    Following Jesus is a sacrifice of all our selfish preferences. It applies to all areas of our lives and not just some. A lot of Christians are good at sacrificing in some areas over others, and think they've done enough. But Jesus asks for it all.

Over the next few days, I plan to go over some of the basic areas in our life that we should concentrate on sacrificing to Jesus, as He sacrificed Himself for us.

Hebrews 13:16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (ESV)


Time

    No matter what we do, we should always be bringing our focus on Jesus. We should not be engaged in anything that takes away from Him. We should be very careful with the way we spend our time, because we will never get it back. And we never know how much time we really have left.

Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. (ESV)


    When we are spending time with our friends, we should be making an effort to strengthen fellow believers and lead others to get to know Jesus! We should be jumping at every opportunity to do these things, even when we feel like we would rather just take a nap. Would you miss out on an opportunity to see someone saved or built up for sake of 2 hours of your time? I wouldn't want to risk it.

    What if your friend calls you up having a really hard time with something? Would you offer to go and spend time with them? Or would you try to fit it into your predetermined schedule? Sometimes we even have to sacrifice time with no forewarning. It is impossible to put life down on a concrete schedule  with all its complexities. Be the kind of person who will sacrifice your time for others' needs, in whatever respect.

    Lastly and most importantly, we all need to be making time to spend one-on-one in relationship with Jesus. That is where our definition, meaning, and clarity in life come from! What changes us is the time we spend getting to know our savior in an intimate way. He reveals things to each of our hearts personally. Also we need to be able to take time to worship Him and get our mind away from the ways of the world and onto the realities of Heaven!

    This week, consciously take note of how you are spending your time and how it is affecting you. Is there something more you can do to glorify Jesus? Are you being stingy with others (and or Jesus!) for sake of your "relaxation" time? It is always more rewarding spending your time Jesus' way. He loves you and wants your entire heart, all that you can offer. Give it to Him. I promise you won't regret it!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Seeing by Faith

    When we are trying to live by faith, the things that inhibit us are the things that are right under our noses. We are trained to live based on the things around us. We don't believe anything if we don't see proof of it. The things around us are more our reality than what we say we believe in. But the Bible tells us that we are to walk by faith and not by sight. We are to live based on what we know is truth, not by what we see.     The things we see around us distract us from the reality we should be living in. What is unseen is eternal and more important than the things of this world. We need to fix our eyes on what is lasting and know the difference. We need to be filling ourselves with the word and not the world. When we are distracted by the world, we forget the truth. We become discouraged and doubt our faith. We need to draw strength from one another so that we may run the race with endurance.     What is determining your reality today? Is i...

Think Twice

    When the Holy Spirit was sent to us on earth, it made Jesus readily available to all. Now He lives in us, not among us. When you are a born again Christian, you now have Jesus dwelling inside you. How does that affect your daily life? Do you realize that you are a reflection of the one you carry with you everywhere you go?    Sadly, that doesn't mean much to a lot of Christians. Instead of using Jesus as an instrument of love, hope, and salvation, they use His name as a weapon. They spend their time boycotting instead of praying for Jesus to change hearts. Telling others that the God who IS love, hates them. Letting others know that they will go to hell for their decisions, instead of lighting the way to heaven. Let me be clear: this is wrong! No one wants to believe in a hateful, unforgiving God. I certainly don't. That's why I follow Jesus.     Even if you aren't the one openly boycotting on street corners, be careful of the image of God you are g...

Pergamum

Revelation 2:13-16  “I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to me. You refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you there in Satan’s city. “But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching. Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth." (NLT)     To the church in Pergamum, Jesus commends them for their faithfulness. Interesting that what He told the church in Smyrna they were doing wrong was just what those in Pergamum were doing right! They lived in an area that made it particularly difficult to stay devoted to Christ because of all the persecution, yet...