Are You Too Busy For God
by Amber Leggette-Aldrich

How often do you ask someone "How have you been?" and get the reply, "Oh, I've been so busy"? I hear it all the time.

Recently I began watching what people are being kept busy with. Our children are being raised by TV and video games and the internet, involved in a deluge of sports and classes of every kind, or hanging around in the malls or on the street. Adults are away from home, working to pay for all of the necessities and luxuries we have, or trying to find a way to escape from all the stress of life. For me, it seemed like I was always on the go, running errands, working, going to appointments, and being a shuttle service for my family and friends. In addition to that, there were the day to day chores. Things like taking care of my son, dishes, laundry, cooking, paying bills, tending gardens, feeding the animals, cleaning the house, chopping firewood, etc. along with phone calls, emails and texts. My relaxing time was mostly spent on movies, facebook & other internet sites, or spending time in idle chatter with my friends, if I even had time to relax. Many times I was busy from the time I got out of bed in the morning until I got back into bed at night. Of course I would squeeze in time on Sundays and Wednesdays for church, but it was almost like another appointment I had to plan into an otherwise already busy day. And my energy was soon drained. Even when I had an opportunity to do something for fun, I didn't enjoy it anymore. My mind was still flooded with all the thoughts of things that needed to be done or taken care of.

Individually, there wasn't anything bad or evil about the things I was doing. And for the most part, I didn't mind doing most of these things. What was bad, was that my life was so flooded with so many things that it kept me distracted from building an intimate relationship with Jesus. I had a really hard time trying to figure out how I could balance things out in my life so that I could have time for Him.

Then it hit me one day. I was listening to a tape from a bible study, and the verses, "And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring" (Numbers 15:39 KJV) & "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment." (Mark 12:30 KJV) I thought to myself, "God doesn't want some little part of my heart. He wants all of my heart! He doesn't want to be squeezed into some small corner of my busy schedule to occupy my mind for a few seconds. He wants my mind to be consumed with thoughts of Him!

One thing that God showed me in my heart was that Satan is very smart, and very patient. The enemy has a plan to keep us separated from God. An essential part of that plan is in keeping us so busy, so occupied with what we call ordinary things of life, that we don't have time for God. Satan keeps our minds so full of unnecessary junk, in order to prevent us from being focused on what really mattersour Savior! We are constantly bombarded with the ways of the world. And we are continually focused on ourselves. The bible tells us that we are to put God above all else. But our minds tend to think about everything according to what we want or think we need, instead of Jesus. And that's just what the devil wants.

The devil knows that if he can keep us busy enough, he can keep us from being focused on God. Sure we may still go to church and read our bible occasionally, and pray when we need something. But we are not focused on a deep and meaningful relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. When the world looks at us, they don't see much of anything that is showing His Holy Spirit dwelling in us. We might still make it to Heaven, but it's not very likely that we will be inviting many other souls for God's Kingdom.

Consider what you spend most of your time thinking about. Is it Jesus, or yourself? When we truly love God with all of our heart, soul, mind & strength, then our thoughts are most often on Him and not on ourselves. We must remember that it is Jesus who has the power, and is the power, it's His great love that reaches out to us. It has nothing to do with who we are or what we can do. It's about our personal relationship with Christ, having the desire in our heart to want to know Him and fall in love with Him, becoming willing to follow His leadership. We need to be consumed by His Spirit, letting ourselves be completely given to and for Him!

We do that by spending time with Him, reading and hearing His Word, and through prayer. We do it by opening our heart and letting Him fill us and dwell in us. And when we do that, His light shines through us. Our thoughts are transformed, and therefore our hearts. Our words, actions, attitudesour lives are changed. Then the ways of the world are not so appealing to us. "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God". (Romans 12:2 KJV) We must resolve in earnest to make this "renewing of our mind" consistent, and constant. The power to do this comes from God. It takes hope, faith, courage and determination, not in ourselves, but in Him who is all powerful!

It wasn't easy for me to let God change me, and I know I am still not perfect. But the first thing I had to learn was that I cannot change myself, only God can. I had to choose to want Him to change me, and then to let Him change me. As I began to fall more deeply in love with Him because of who He is, I soon realized that a lot of what my time had been spent on before no longer mattered to me. My heart and mind now belong to Jesus, and I am so blessed!

We can find the time or make the time for what we consider important to us. So perhaps the first step is asking, "How important is my relationship with Christ to me? Am I really willing to give myself up to Him completely?"

If you want to know where your heart really is, just look where your mind goes when it wanders. Is your life too "BUSY"Being Under Satan's Yoke?

Copyright 2012 Amber Leggette-Aldrich 

Through joy, heartache, laughter and tears, Amber discovered a passion for helping and encouraging others. Her mission in life is to bring a message of hope, that God is always with us.

Author of Faith, Hope & Miracles http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008J0Z2FQ

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com







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