Sunday Morning

"...Man shall not live on bread alone, 

but on every word that proceeds

out of the mouth of God."

Matthew 4:4

I'm sure you have read it as well as heard it countless times ... you need to feed your spirit.  What is one of the ways to feed your spirit?  By reading God's Word.

I will admit that for some time now I have not read my Bible like I used to.  I used to wake up early in the morning, speak a few memorized scriptures, brew a cup of tea, & then sit in my recliner reading my Bible.  I would read Psalms until something really spoke to me & then I would stop & think about whatever it was.  If it was something that particularly touched me I would go about memorizing it.  I would also read a Proverb each day.  I would then pick a book to read, again stopping when something spoke to me & thinking about whatever it was ... maybe memorizing it.  I also had a time of Bible reading at night before I went to sleep.  

I can pinpoint when I stopped doing this but not why.  I do know that my life was in a shambles for quite a while.  It was a time I should have done even more reading, more meditating, more memorizing ... but instead I was so overwhelmed by what was happening around me that I was lucky I didn't just go into the garage, turn on the car & let it run.  (I thought about it.)  I couldn't wait to go to bed at night so I could escape the things that were happening by sleeping for a few hours ... & I would wake up the next morning dreading the day & longing for it to be over so I could go back to bed & sleep again.  I wasn't reading God's Word or giving Him the attention that I used to give Him ... I just didn't have the strength ... but He still loved me & watched over me.  He still protected me from myself.  

I do pray but I don't devote as much time to it as I used to.  Am I proud of this?  Of course not.  Is my spirit starving?  Yes, it is.  You know how I can tell?  I often go to someone's blog & notice a bit of scripture somewhere on their sidebar.  I read it & I can feel my spirit drinking it in like a dried up sponge that has received a bit of water.  

Keith Green, a Christian music artist who went home to be with the Lord quite a few years ago, was totally devoted to God & he wrote many, many songs that "tell it like it is."  One of those songs, "You Love the World (& You're Avoiding Me)," speaks on the topic of letting other things crowd out your time with God.  It is written as if God is talking.  This is a part of the lyrics ...

"My Word sits there upon your desk

but you love your books & magazines the best.

You prefer the light of your TV.

You love the world, & you're avoiding Me."

When I do want to read something, I find myself reaching for a book or a magazine.  I find time to watch DVDs.  I find time to make crafts.  I find time for so many things.  I need to start finding time for God's Word again.  

Perhaps your spirit has been wasting away for a while as well.  Let's change this today.  Let's make our spirits overweight with God's Word & put all the other things in life in second place.