Are you getting ready?

 

I read a quote today that made me stop and think.

“How can we want to spend eternity with God,

 but we can’t even spend an hour with him now?”

At one time in my life, I would have responded with a huge “OUCH”. But I am so happy that God has done such a work in my heart, albeit through countless trials (I’m a slow learner), that I now crave time spent with God and in his Word. One hour is never long enough!

And no, I don’t have it all figured out and I’m not trying to appear any more spiritual than anyone reading this. It has taken years, and I mean YEARS for me to arrive at this point. Sadly, I neglected study of God’s Word for far too long and so as I get older the urge to study and learn is strong and I know I will be playing ‘catch-up’ til I die, and still not even scratch the surface of the treasures to be found in the Bible.

As I look around me, and as I meet with other Christians and connect through phone calls and texts and over social media, I am beginning to see a sad trend amongst believers. The desire for God’s Word and gaining knowledge and understanding through the pages of scripture is not high on the list of to dos for so many. I fear that there are many Christians that don’t desire even ten minutes alone with the Lord, let alone an hour!

Yes, they’re very busy in their programs and groups, but actually sitting alone in silence, reading the Word, looking at context and culture, trying to understand and listening to God speak, is not really a priority.

They are content to fellowship on a regular basis, listen to the preacher expound the truth, letting him do all the hard work of in-depth study and prayer, and yet they have no desire to do it themselves.

Often, so many are content to scroll on social media for hours on end, and yes, I am guilty of this too, and yet they neglect consistent time spent with God. They neglect working on their relationship with God through being in his Word.

Some friends and I are at present, working through a book on the importance of studying the Word of God. Now I know I have written a lot on this topic in previous posts, so I won’t go into depth on the subject, but hear me out. If you don’t have any desire or interest in spending time with God now, on this earth, where you need him the most, as you battle through your days, how in the world do you expect to enjoy an eternity of worshipping at his feet?

The Bible is a book about God. How can you get to know him if you never read it? How will you know why he is worthy of your worship if you don’t learn of his character? How will you understand what is going on in our world and what is to come if you don’t dig into the harder passages in your Bible?

If you’re not keen on spending time with him now, why would you want to spend an eternity with him?

Sounds harsh, I know. But have you ever taken the time to think about it?

I love to sing songs about Heaven, and there are many that have me tearing up each and every time I sing them. I love to sing about that great day when he calls us home. I love to sing about the promised place we have with him.

The thought of leaving this earth for an eternity so vastly different than anything we can even imagine is mind boggling.

I know that I’ve been guilty of looking forward to Heaven because it means leaving this messed up world and all its troubles. But the real reason we should look forward to Heaven is because God, the creator of all things, is there!

Yes, we’ll be away from the cares of this world, there will be no tears, no heartaches, no pain, no sorrow (Revelation 21:4), but the most awesome, wonderful, glorious part of Heaven will be God’s presence! For all eternity! A never-ending infinite period of time in which every day we can spend in praise and worship of God, in person, in the flesh, face to face. (1 Corinthians 13:12)

Shouldn’t we start practicing spending time with him now? Don’t you think that the more time you spend in the Word now, getting to know him more and more, will only set your soul on fire and create a greater desire for his eternal presence to come?

More often than not, when you came to Christ, you came with a limited knowledge of God. We come to faith in God on very little information. We understand that we need his forgiveness and his grace, and we may understand that he is good, but until we have made a study of him, we don’t really ‘know’ him.

How are we supposed to nurture and grow our relationship with him without study of him? And how do we do this? By getting into the Word. As we grow in the knowledge of his character through in depth study of his Word, the result is a deeper love for him.

As we learn more about him and his character, we learn more about ourselves and we realise we fall short. Knowing this causes us to change things in our lives, to let God do his purifying work. Making us more like Christ with each passing day and with each look into the mirror of his Word. The light of his Word reveals the dark places in our hearts and a process of sanctification begins.

You will only be transformed by the Word of God by the amount of time you spend in it. If you never study it, you can’t be transformed by it.

Soak yourself in God’s Word and let him do a purifying work in your heart and soul and mind, cleaning you from the inside out, making you more like Christ.

Read it. Study it. Love it. Live it. Share it.

And when you get to Heaven, all you have learnt about Christ, all you know of his character will give you cause to worship and for all eternity you will never run out of things to praise him for.

Revelation 4:8, 11 KJV - And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. ... Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.