Tag Archive - time

give

March 7, 2011 in nehemiah with 0 Comments

Nehemiah 10:32-33

[32] “We also take on ourselves the obligation to give yearly a third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God: [33] for the showbread, the regular grain offering, the regular burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.

Give. Sometimes it is so easy to give. It is easy to give to family, we love to give presents. It is easy to give to children, to friends. It is easy to pick up the bill every once and a while, when going out to eat with friends.

Is it easy to give to God?

I love my wife, and I love spending time with her. I love buying her gifts.

Then I say I love God…

Do I spend time reading His word and praying? Do I make sure to give of my time and talents? Do I make sure to give back to Him, when He’s so richly blessed me?

If you’re anything like me, you struggle in giving, when it involves God.

Today, this hour, give to God of your time. If you have 1 minute to spare, spend it praying for someone else, and asking God to guide you through the next hour. If you have 5, read just 1 chapter from His word and pray that He speaks to you through it. If you have more, do both, and pray for your family and friends who are lost.

You’ll find that you have more time than you thought.

in Christ,

Isaiah

time spent

January 11, 2011 in nehemiah, personal with 0 Comments

Nehemiah 9:3

And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God.

A quarter of the day they read from the Book of Law of the LORD their God.

A quarter of the day they confessed their sins and worshipped the LORD their God.

Consider this:

A quarter of the day (going by 6 hours) is 4 hours longer than most Church services.

A quarter of the day is 5.5 hours longer than the average sermon.

A quarter of the day is 350 minutes more than the average Christian prays a day (10 minutes).

A quarter of the day seems to be a long time when applied to godly things.

But a quarter of a day is only 4 hours more than the average person spends eating and drinking in a day.

A quarter of the day is 2 hours more than the time the average american spends on the phone (texting/phone calls) – 4 hours.

A quarter of the day is 2 hours less than the time spent online by 65% of Americans (8 hours a day).

The Israelites spent half of this day in reading the Word, then confessing their sins and worshipping God.

Was that time well spent?

I look at the last statistic, that most Americans spend 8 hours online, and I think its low.  At least for me, it is.  Then I’m thinking about how much time I really do spend in prayer, in reading the Word.  I have to ask myself some questions:

Is God really God?

Then why am I acting like other things are?

Is my relationship with Him important?

Then why don’t I spend time with Him?

Just a few things I’m thinking about today… maybe you feel the same way.

in Christ,

Isaiah