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You have the same 24 hours in your day as the most accomplished and greatest men and women in the history of the world. Then why do you still feel like you don't have enough time to do what you want to do and be who you want to be? Between all the busyness of life it feels like we just don't have the time. But what if it was possible to make more time. I think we can. And I think I know how.
Through a look at biblical precedent, and the value of community, and a few dad jokes, "Making Time" is timely look at timeless principles and a great resource for you, your family, church, or small group.
The Host: I have a friend
who does a retreat every year
where he goes to a monastery.
No electronic devices and I think
no talking, but I can't remember.
A whole week of just him and God.
And I'm assuming monks.
I really need to start
asking more questions.
And that sounds super spiritual.
What a spiritual way to spend your time.
Wouldn't it be fun to just go off to a
monastery for a week or two at a time.
I'd probably be really spiritual then.
If I have the time to do it.
â
But I do my devotions.
Usually I pray.
I go to church.
How much of my time does God really want.
Am I hitting the minimum.
I don't want to look like
I'm doing the bare minimum.
That that's bad.
I also don't want to be weird about it.
Voice of the people: I think
it's too late for that one.
The Host: I try to punch the clock
at least once or twice a day,
not counting, praying for meals.
Do I need more time for God?
Or am I doing enough?
And how do I make time for
other people without taking
away time from God or myself?
This is making time.
A series where I try to make more time.
Time for the good stuff.
Audrey: ⨠Chapter 3:
Giving The Lord His Due.
The Host: Here's today's big idea.
God wants me to spend time with him.
And you.
And us.
Spending time with God is part
of being a believer in God.
If you believe that God exists, that he
is not just a natural force, like gravity.
But rather he's a person meaning
like a being with desires
and motivations and opinions.
And if you believe that God wants
to have a relationship with you.
Personally.
Then spending time with
God is part of the deal.
On the flip side, I liked
the idea of being the kind
of person who walks with God.
This is not only what I want
to do, but who I want to be.
I want to pray and hear God answer.
To worship deeply.
But I don't always do that.
The time that we, you and/or
me spend on and with God can be
divided into three categories.
Practice.
Worship.
Service.
let's start with practice.
This is stuff like devotions, prayer,
reading, meditation, memorization.
This is what makes me a better me.
It makes you who you want to be by
bringing you into a closer and real
more deeper relationship with God.
Hannah: James 4:8.
Come near to God and he
will come near to you.
Jeremiah 29 13, you will seek me and find
me when you seek me with all your heart.
The Host: These are all the practice
of intentionally drawing near to God.
Next.
Worship.
Worship is the intentional
prioritization of God.
It's telling God who you believe he is.
The times it is also telling
yourself who you believe God is.
The Psalms were basically
someone sitting down, taking the
time to write out who God is.
And self-examining their own heart
to see if they really mean it.
Hannah: Psalm 95, 6.
Come let us worship and bow down.
Let's kneel before the
Lord, our maker.
The Host: Worship is prioritized so much
that we included in church services.
God clearly says that we need to do it.
This is something that I
should be spending time on.
Finally there's service.
Service is obeying God's commands and
living out what you were made to be.
And these commands are pretty big.
Hannah: Matthew 22:37 through 39.
And he said to them, ââyou shall
love the Lord, your God with all
your heart, and with all your
soul, and with all your mind.
This is the great and
foremost commandment.
The second is like it, âyou shall
love your neighbor as yourself.
Voice of the people: Okay.
âThat's a lot.
How do I have time for that?
And put time in with other people,
and all of the regular âme stuffâ like
work and doing the laundry and family.
Isn't this whole series supposed to
be about making time, not spending it.
The Host: Yeah, all of this
practice, worship and service.
All of this is a lot.
It takes a lot of time.
It feels like it takes
expertise sometimes.
It definitely takes some discipline.
And all of that can be divided
into dry seasons, sweet seasons,
busy seasons, and quiet seasons.
And that is when I'm
actually doing it sometimes.
I'm not.
But there is something
that can change that.
It can shift this from spending time.
To making it.
I said before that you could divide your
time with God into three categories.
But you shouldn't.
Instead, let's put it all back together.
All three categories
are easier in community.
Weathering the seasons
is easier and smoother.
In community, and it makes
your community better.
No one says I want to go through
some hard times with my friends.
But I definitely don't want to go
through hard times without them either.
Spiritual practices, worship and service.
Are all just part of who I want to be.
And the easiest way to
become who I want to be.
Is to go with others who are
headed in that direction.
Walking with God.
And others.
Every single passage that we just read.
All of those verses.
We're command to a group of people.
So if I want to make more time for God.
It's going to be a lot easier
if I do it with others.
Voice of the people: The Bible,
doesn't say that all of our time
with God should be done as a group.
Right.
That doesn't sound right.
The Host: Nope.
You're right.
It doesn't say everything
is a group project.
Uh, kind of.
Hannah: Matthew six one through six.
Take care, not to practice your
righteousness in the sight of
people to be noticed by them.
Otherwise you have no reward with
your father who is in heaven.
So when you give to the poor, do not sound
a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites
do in the synagogues and on the streets
so that they will be praised by people.
Truly I say to you, they
have their reward in full.
But when you give to the poor,
do not let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing.
So that your charitable
giving will be in secret.
And your father who sees what is
done in secret will reward you.
And when you pray, you are not to
be like the hypocrites for, they
love to stand and pray in the
synagogues and on the street corners
so that they will be seen by people.
Truly I say to you, they
have their reward in full.
But as for you, when you pray, go into
your inner room, close your door and
pray to your father who is in secret.
And your father who sees what is
done in secret will reward you.
The Host: The command to
do good in secret here.
Is to combat pride.
And to build humility.
Don't broadcast how holy you are,
but do actually be holy and humble.
To spend less time thinking of
yourself, and more time thinking of us.
Your personal and secret practice
of loving God is for the good of us.
You become a better member of God's
family and we're better for it.
Thanks.
Voice of the people: âHow
do I actually do that?
How do I go from doing it in
pieces on my own to spending
time with God, with other people?
The Host: Good question.
The short answer is that you
just need a little imagination.
Easiest way to begin.
It's to just imagine
everything as a group project.
Each member of your family,
small group, friend, group.
Whatever.
It needs to work together.
Be present.
Speak into and contribute to the overall
goal, which is to be closer to God.
For those of you with a
bit more imagination, let's
take a journey back in time.
Back before the reformation
before Heir Gutenberg invented
the printing press, how did a
Christian do their morning devotions?
They didn't have their own Bible.
They might not have
even been able to read.
They weren't listening to a
Spotify playlist of worship.
And they weren't buying a prayer journal.
They just had one person read
it to them and they discussed.
That's it.
It wasn't just, what
does this mean for me?
It was also what does this mean for us?
Us as a family.
As a small church as a group of neighbors.
Not me.
But us.
But also me.
For those of you with less imagination.
There's always the group
method for studying the Bible.
Here it is.
It's an acronym because
people like acronyms.
Stands for.
G gather your group together.
Friends, family, small group, whatever.
R read a passage of the
Bible out loud together.
Maybe even more than once.
Listen.
Ask questions.
Hear it.
O, observe.
Notice things.
What does this have to
do with you personally?
What stands out in this passage?
What doesn't make sense?
What do you have questions about?
What does this have to do with
the other people in your group?
Then U understanding.
Share your observations with each other.
Your questions with each other.
What are the things that everyone noticed?
What are the things that
everyone's skimmed over?
And how can we collectively apply this?
Because that also affects how
I individually will apply it.
And P prayer.
Pray together.
Before after in the middle, the goal
is to draw near to God together.
So tell God, that's your goal.
Ask God to help you with that.
Talk to him about it.
Pray about it.
Try it.
Try reading the Bible together and
seeing what God is saying to y'all.
Don't forget.
Let the holy spirit speak through you.
And listen for the holy spirit when
someone else is speaking to you.
God wants me to spend time with him.
And you.
And us.
God wants all of me, not just a
day a week, not just my personal
time, not just in the sweet seasons.
God wants all of me and more than
me, he wants all of us together.
Voice of the people: That's great,
but you really never got to.
How do I have time for that?
And investing in others, and
the regular âme stuffâ like
work and laundry and family.
The Host: That's true.
I guess we'll just have to make
time for that in the next episode.