Why Spend Time with God?
(in
His Word)
Break down
your typical day.
For many
people, there are (somewhat) standard hours in which we eat, sleep, and
work/study. Let's say that takes around 18 hours. What do you do in the
remaining 6? Some may turn to family and friends. Others, perhaps entertainment.
Yet, if I may ask this, how much time is saved for the Lord—the one whom we claim
to love? Out of the 24 hours we have each day, how much undivided time belongs to “the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea,
and everything in them” (Ps 146:6)? If we call ourselves people who love God,
in which to live is Christ and to die is gain (Phil 1:21)—symbolizing that our lives’
purpose is to be like Christ, who regularly spent time with the Father (Matt
14:13; Mk 1:35; Mk 6:45-46; Lk 4:42 etc.)—then we should likewise enjoy being in
the presence of El Shaddai. Yet, is
that truly the case for you? Do you really yearn to draw near to Him so that He
may draw near to you, as it is written in James 4:8?
(I am not
a fan of putting stories in my blog but here’s one)
I once confronted
a friend who wanted to be in ministry about why he didn’t spend time with God.
His answer was: “If God is omniscient (knows everything) and omnipresent (is
everywhere), I am spending time with Him all the time.” This is a real story. I
don’t know how much this friend believed in what he said, but consider this:
let’s say you’re married; and your spouse is with you 24/7. Yet, even though
he/she is with you all the time, you make no
effort in communing, talking, or spending time with him/her. Would your
spouse feel loved or feel like he/she is in a relationship with you? By no means! (which was the strongest Greek phrase to indicate
refusal!)
Hence, if we claim
to be God’s bride and yet make no effort in spending time with the One whom we
claim to love, are we truly in love and relationship with Him? This is a serious question to consider. With that
mentioned, the following will present 4 points to why spending time with God is
vital in the Christian life, followed by applications.
#1: Basic Indicator of a
relationship with God
It is totally plausible
that one who spends regular time with God in prayer and in His Word could do so
out of religion, legalism, tradition, or an insincere heart and motive (or all
the above). Yet, one who does not, or makes no attempt, in doing so will
certainly not be in a good, healthy, loving, sustainable, relationship with
God. No way.
Jesus—the one whom we are
called to imitate (Rom 13:14)—spent tons of alone time with the Father (Matt 14:13;
Mk 1:35; Mk 6:45-46; Lk 4:42 etc.); and He was God! If we are
not God and bound with a nature that is “under sin” (Rom 3:9), how can we not draw
near to Him?
The opening Psalm in Psalms
begins with, “Blessed is the man…who’s
delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night”
(Ps 1:1-2). The “law”, back in the context of the psalmist, was the Word of
God! Psalm 1 is about the contrast between the way of the righteous—those in
the Lord—and the wicked, those who are not. And that contrast is firstly based on whether
one dwells in His Word. In fact, Psalm 1 ends with “the Lord knows the way of
the righteous” (1:6; cf. Ps 11:7; 33:5; 146:8; etc.), symbolizing that those
who are righteous are those who have a relationship with God, as He personally knows
those who love Him (1 Cor 8:3).
Thus, a basic relationship
with God has to revolve around spending time with the One whom we call the “lover
of our souls”. Oh, and by the way, if one doesn’t spend time with God, that
person should not even bother making claims about how “God told me this…” How
does one who does not know God personally know that God has personally spoken
to him/her? (in most cases)
#2:
Enables one to love and obey God
Christ
says in John 14:15: “If you love me, you
will keep my commandments.” He then says, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with
him” (14:23). The greatest commandment is to love the Lord with everything (Matt
22:37). Hence, to love God is to obey His Word in everything. Yet, how can one love and obey God if one does not even
know what is written in God’s Word?
Therefore,
if being a Christian is to be in love with God and to live a life “worthy of
the calling” (Eph 4:1), the only way one can do so is by spending time with
God.
#3: Enables one to
experience God personally
The
ways of God are oftentimes opposite from the ways of the world. The way of the
world usually suggests us to have faith (to believe) after evidence, witness, or experience. The way of God oftentimes
suggest that experiences come after faith.
Many
Christians are craving for a touch of God that will set them on fire as His
witnesses to the ends of the earth. I believe that this can be the case.
However, prescriptive verses usually tell us to “draw near to God” first, which
is to make the effort in faith to know God, then “He will draw near to us” (Jas
4:8; 2 Chron 15:2; 28:9; Zech 1:3; Mal 3:7 etc.). The truth is, if you are in
love with someone, you will initiate your love. If you are wholehearted
grateful for something someone has done, you will initiate to be grateful. In
the same way, if you believe God is real, and you want to experience Him powerfully
in your life, (you will) draw near to Him.
Scripture
writes that we are to set our minds on the things of the Spirit (Rom 8:5-7),
things that are true, honourable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, excellent
and worthy of praise (Phil 4:8), then “the God of peace will be with you” (Phil
4:9 cf. Rom 8:6; Gal 6:16). To experience God’s peace and security, one must live in the Spirit, which first requires knowing
God in His Word in obedience. Thus, if you want to experience God, you have to
make the effort in faith to spend time with Him.
#4: Enables one to be Spiritually
Mature
Paul wants every Christian to be mature in Christ (Col
1:28). He writes that “Let those…who are mature think this way”, which is to press on towards the goal in Christ
(Phil 3:14-15). A spiritually mature Christian wants to grow and press on as a
believer and testimony—an ambassador for Christ (2 Cor 5:20)—so that God may be
glorified in one’s life!
Yet, in order to be spiritually mature, one must be skilled in the word of righteousness—which
is the Word of God (Heb 6:12-13). Colossians 3:16 writes: “Let the Word of God
dwell in you richly”, thus enabling one to teach and admonish one another in
all wisdom! Oftentimes the mature are
correlated with those who are wise. Hence, in order to be wise and mature, one
must dwell in the Word of God, which is not a bunch of “empty words”, but “your very life” (Deut 32:47).
Conclusion & Application:
At the end of
the day, God is the good Father who desires the
best for us. He wants us to live a victorious, Spirit-filled life in a deep
relational intimacy with Himself. He has given us what we need to achieve that—the
Word of God. Thus, my prayer as I write this is that you may live in a good relationship
with God through a lifestyle that yearns for God, every single day, before desiring anything else.
A good way to
do this is to set practical rules and regulations in your life. This is because
our flesh naturally does not want to spend time with God in His word, and in
order to combat that, sometimes we need rules. Perhaps make it a rule of “no
social media until after having quality time with God.” A missionary family had this
policy of “no eating” unless one has “eaten from the daily bread”—the Word of
God. For some, perhaps the rule should be, “no entertainment”, whether that be
gaming (of any sort), tv shows, sport, music, shopping…unless one has let the
Word dwell in oneself (this is currently my rule).
And don't set
unachievable goals. Start with baby steps. Perhaps start with the practice of
spending 30 minutes (out of 24 hours, which is 1/48 of your day), or reading 2-3
chapters alongside prayer and worship. For some others, raise the bar a bit,
such as reading the Bible once, or twice, three, or seven times a year. You can also
be creative about it, such as with memorization or listening to Scripture (like
99.9% of those in biblical history). You are also encouraged to spend time with
God through fasting! Whatever the case, let us ultimately put God and our
relationship with Him first in our lives by doing
it (Jas 1:22).
-Barnabas Kwok
Biblical and Theological Studies Student at BIOLA University
