Jesus often withdrew to be alone and spend time with his Father. Over the holidays for Grow Daily we are seeking to slow down and be reflective.
“We hear the refrain “I’m great, just busy” so often we assume pathological busyness is okay. After all, everybody else is busy too. But what if busyness isn’t healthy? What if it’s an airborne contagion, wreaking havoc on our collective soul?”1
Each day will have a short bible passage and question to contemplate. Consider how you might use these daily passages and questions to withdraw from the busyness of life and spend time with your heavenly Father.
Here are a couple of things that you may find helpful to think through:
- Time: Consider when you might do this. We are busy people and often rush through to the next thing on our list to do. Spending time with God should not be something that is rushed through. Do you need to wake a bit earlier? Could you do this in your lunch break instead of scrolling through Facebook?
- Place: Consider where you might do this. Find a place that is free from distractions. Some examples are: A comfortable chair, a quite park,
- Consider how you might include silence. Before, after, perhaps both? Our lives have constant noise whether it be external noise around us (E.g. phone, kids, and boss) or our own internal dialogue to ourselves. It’s important to seek silence so that you can be attentive to your God.
- Consider coming back to this devotion more than once in the day to practice the habit of returning to spend time with God throughout your day.
1 John 2:15-17
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847) wrote a sermon called “The Expulsive of a New Affection”. In short, he says that we cannot be rid of our love for the world without replacing it with love for God.
“…the most effectual way of withdrawing the mind from one object, is not by turning it away upon desolate and unpeopled vacancy—but by presenting to its regards another object still more alluring”2
What may God be saying to you through and John’s words today?
Pray
- Comer, J., 2019. The Ruthless Elimination Of Hurry: How To Stay Emotionally Healthy And Spiritually Alive In The Chaos Of The Modern World. Waterbrook Press.
- Monergism.com. 2020. [online] Available at: <https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/Chalmers,%20Thomas%20-%20The%20Exlpulsive%20Power%20of%20a%20New%20Af.pdf> [Accessed 18 September 2020].