I am not sure if I ever stopped at a “Stop-N-Go” gas and convenience store. If they are like all the large convenience store chains, they are set up where you can gas up your car and run into the store to shop easily meeting your needs quickly. Convenience stores have arranged and stocked their aisles so that their customers can get what they want the most and are in and out with little delay.
With our hectic schedules today, many of us “convenience-store-shop” Jesus. We power through our devotion in the morning with enough time to get the gist of what the author is saying and then work quickly through our A-C-T-S (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication) prayer to make sure we have all the bases covered. Not wanting to be a hypocrite, I did that for years and grew in my faith very little. I see the insane daily schedules of my two daughters and sons-in-laws and their friends who work their tails off taking care of their families.
Let me say this to each of you. Find time for Jesus. It can be in a gym with your ear pods tuning the world out and Jesus music playing while you are praying. One of my daughters has her favorite preacher going throughout her long runs and has trained her mind to meditate on favorite scriptures and focus on prayer. A son-in-law listens to Tony Evans while traveling between jobsites. They get their soul fed with His Word and have learned to spend time with Jesus as they are “walking” through life. When you learn to spend time with Christ, His calmness and peace slows life down as you sense His presence throughout your day.
Several dynamic verses that will encourage you to spend time with Jesus are:
- Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.”
- John 8:31&32, “Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
- John 15:7, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
I recognize the pace of life is hectic and there will be times when you will lose it. If you do something stupid, Jesus’ willingness to go to the cross enables the Holy Spirit to restore us quickly. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Grab a hold of the beauty of 1 John 1:7, “if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” That my dear friend is abundant life.
Following Jesus is not a stop-n-go proposition. Learn to abide in Him. Psalm 25:5 is clear, “Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.” Stay in His presence.
Barnabas Man 