All to
Myself
By
Jeannine Sawall
"I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I
want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.”
Hosea
6:6 NLT
Recently, some friends and I
were talking about our quiet times with the Lord: when it works best for our
schedules (morning versus evening) and how having routine quiet times impacts
not only our daily lives, but our family’s lives as well. As we continued
our conversation, the question came up about quiet times on Sundays. If you’re
headed to church, do you need to have a quiet time on Sunday, or is your time
at church good spiritual nourishment for the day. There were varying answers;
neither right nor wrong. But there was an answer I loved the best. One of my
friends said, “I still have a quiet time on Sunday because I love having Him
all to myself.”
That answer has stuck with
me. Oftentimes, my quiet time gets
pushed back in my day due to busy schedules and getting the kids off for
school. Even Sunday mornings are gallant efforts to move everyone efficiently
out the door to church, let alone have a quiet time before we go. While I know quiet times are a vital part of
my daily existence, sometimes they seem to be one more thing I need to check
off on my “to-do list” before I can get on with my day.
However, after hearing my
friends answer, I’ve come to the conclusion that a change in my “heart-titude”
will affect how I look at my quiet time. When I approach the throne out of
dedication to “doing the right Christian thing,” yes, I get “credit” for having
spent time with the Lord…and, more often than not, in His great grace, God
fills me and meets with me, despite my “Quick! Let’s get it done”
attitude. But when I approach Him out of
devotion, with the heart of one who longs to be with her Lord, I come away not
just with enough to get me through the day, but I come away overwhelmed by His
love and overflowing with His glory.
The Lord desires our love over
sacrifice. He wants us to know Him and love Him more than He wants us to do our
duty to Him. Our heart attitudes should reflect the privilege He gives us when
we come together. Rather than HAVING to have a quiet time, we GET to have a
quiet time because there’s no greater joy than having Him all to ourselves!
GOING
DEEPER:
1. What does your heart reflect
as you make time for your quiet time?
2. How can you change your schedule to allow
time to have the Lord all to yourself?
FURTHER READING:
Jeannine is a wife and mother of
four active boys. She works in property management and is a part of the Special
Events team for Oakwood’s We Women ministries.
