September 8th, 2021
By Rodney Boylan
I’ve been contemplating the “heart” issue of our relationship with God. I don’t think everyone is wired the same. Some people can have a “feeling” relationship with God. Others, like myself, don’t spend too much time with our feelings. We’re just not wired that way. Does that mean we don’t have a deep relationship with Jesus? I don’t think so, but it does mean that we have to be more diligent about what our minds take in, because that’s where we connect to God.
Let’s assume we would like to strengthen our connection with God. I’m not really talking about a dedicated quiet time and prayer time here. Although important, there’s still a lot of the day to be spent awake. It’s in these moments that we must not only guard our minds from things that are more of this world than the next, but we can also cultivate an environment that brings Jesus closer to us.
Think of your time as it falls into one of three categories: 1) Weakens your connection with God, 2) Neutral, and 3) Strengthens your connection. Everything we do or experience falls into one of these categories. It’s how we analyze and choose our activities that can draw us closer or push further from spending more time with the Father.
The key is to be honest. We know that when we decide to go to church, volunteer, read our Bibles or Christian literature, or attend a small group, we have actively decided to participate in strengthening our connection. But what about the other choices you make? What music or talk radio stations do you listen to? What kind of movies do you like to watch? What TV shows do you gravitate to? In other words, what do your “mindless” activities do for your connection to God?
This came to light for me when I thought I had a lot of neutral activity. I’m a sports addict. I don’t care much for scripted TV shows, dramas, off-color comedies and the like. I thought I was ok. But then when I analyzed how that time affected my connection, I was convicted. Not that it made me sad and sorrowful, I just know, if I want to strengthen my connection to God, I need to reduce the time I spend on things that don’t help me. In fact, sometimes nothing, silence, is better than audio or visual junk that we’re taking in when we’re just killing time. I want to guard my mindless time and make more (not all) of it count towards living a life that knows and reflects Jesus.
“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7
I’ve been contemplating the “heart” issue of our relationship with God. I don’t think everyone is wired the same. Some people can have a “feeling” relationship with God. Others, like myself, don’t spend too much time with our feelings. We’re just not wired that way. Does that mean we don’t have a deep relationship with Jesus? I don’t think so, but it does mean that we have to be more diligent about what our minds take in, because that’s where we connect to God.
Let’s assume we would like to strengthen our connection with God. I’m not really talking about a dedicated quiet time and prayer time here. Although important, there’s still a lot of the day to be spent awake. It’s in these moments that we must not only guard our minds from things that are more of this world than the next, but we can also cultivate an environment that brings Jesus closer to us.
Think of your time as it falls into one of three categories: 1) Weakens your connection with God, 2) Neutral, and 3) Strengthens your connection. Everything we do or experience falls into one of these categories. It’s how we analyze and choose our activities that can draw us closer or push further from spending more time with the Father.
The key is to be honest. We know that when we decide to go to church, volunteer, read our Bibles or Christian literature, or attend a small group, we have actively decided to participate in strengthening our connection. But what about the other choices you make? What music or talk radio stations do you listen to? What kind of movies do you like to watch? What TV shows do you gravitate to? In other words, what do your “mindless” activities do for your connection to God?
This came to light for me when I thought I had a lot of neutral activity. I’m a sports addict. I don’t care much for scripted TV shows, dramas, off-color comedies and the like. I thought I was ok. But then when I analyzed how that time affected my connection, I was convicted. Not that it made me sad and sorrowful, I just know, if I want to strengthen my connection to God, I need to reduce the time I spend on things that don’t help me. In fact, sometimes nothing, silence, is better than audio or visual junk that we’re taking in when we’re just killing time. I want to guard my mindless time and make more (not all) of it count towards living a life that knows and reflects Jesus.
“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7
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