Making Time for What Matters

Life moves at a rapid pace for everyone. We have to quit making excuses for the things we fail to do. "I am just too busy" or "I just can't find the time" is not a valid excuse for failing to do things that are important. There are many things that are important for us to do in our lives that we have managed to carve out daily time for:

1. Sleeping
2. Eating
3. Bathing
4. Brushing Teeth
5. Etc.

We would all agree that these things are important for our daily physical health, and so we do them. We have learned over the years to create a routine and pattern that allows for these things to happen. We rarely have to think about doing these things, we just do them.

But what about habits that are necessary for our spiritual health?

Do you have a built-in routine and schedule in your daily life that allows for:

1. Scripture Reading
2. Prayer
3. Family Worship
4. Fasting
5. Etc.

We will do things in our lives that we have planned to do. You may feel that the spiritual disciplines I listed above are different from the habits we have created for physical necessities, but their not. The spiritual health of our lives are just as vital as our physical health. In addition, our spiritual lives will absolutely effect our physical lives. We must carve the time out and develop routines that make these things as second nature as eating, bathing, brushing our teeth, and sleeping. These things should be non-negotiable. We do them not because we "need" to but because we "must."

The benefits of building these routines into our lives far outweigh the costs. Not only will we be building great habits into our lives, the real benefit gained is that these disciplines are a means of grace that God has given to us to fellowship and grow with Him. They are not an end, they are a means to an end - communion and fellowship with God. We need this more than we need our next breath. It is the most important matter in our lives.

So the question I pose is: are you making time for what matters?

What routines have you created to help you build these disciplines in your lives? What struggles do you have when trying to implement these? Which of the few I mention do you find the easiest to do and which are the hardest?