Hungering and Thirsting

We go to church on Saturday nights. There are 4 services on the weekends and the 5 o'clock one is perfect for us. As Saturday night approaches, I get hungry for the Word. I can't wait to sing and worship and hear the message as it always has perfect application to my life each week. I go, I get filled up, and I leave with a new appetite for spending more time with Him during the week. But as the days go on, I find that I'm not as hungry as I start out on Saturdays because I fill myself up with other things during the week. Not bad or evil things, just life stuff. Nevertheless, I never spend the time with Him during the week that I crave on the weekends.

I am very convicted about the amount of time I spend in the Living Word of God. Do you believe God's Word is alive and sustenance for your soul? I do. Despite my best efforts, I always find other ways to spend my time. I guess I'm always wondering what God expects from me. Does He want every spare moment to be devoted to prayer, praise or study? Is praying at red lights and reading a few passages a week enough? Not that there is a quota to reach, but am I making enough of an effort at eating the bread of life (John 6:48)? I want to be filled up with Him and not the things of life.

Last week at church, our pastor read Matthew 24:38 where Jesus describes what it will be like in the end of times. People will be planning weddings, getting married, going to work, and making their homes cozy. None of those things are evil, but people will be so caught up in everyday things that they will miss God's purposes in the earth. This pretty much sums me up. I am so caught up in crocheting, cleaning my house, and playing with Beatrice that I have little time to consider the things that God may be doing in my life. I don't want to miss out because I am too busy living. I want to make time.

I was speaking about this with a dear, old friend and explained where my heart is but how difficult it is to change because taking care of Beatrice and our home is all consuming. She told me that God does not expect me to devote 24 hours to praying and reading the Word. A prayer in the shower, a couple of verses at nap time, a praise and worship CD in the background is spending time with Him. I do all of that already. My heart longs for more time, but finding that time is a huge challenge right now. I am learning to make more time to snack on the Word of God before it goes stale in my heart and I miss out on something big.

How do you make that time?