Are you too busy?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that most Americans work about forty hours a week. That is less than most people have worked, both in other nations and other times in history. But those of us blessed with shorter modern work weeks manage to fill our free time with other activities. We spend twelve hours a week on hobbies, 21 hours watching TV, and 21 hours on social media. (That’s 42 hours of screentime—more than a full-time job!) And these statistics don’t include meals, travel time, shopping, doctor visits, errands, house work, and more.
The fact is, we know we are too busy—because no one sleeps enough.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 3 adults in the United States reports not getting enough sleep every day. Nearly 40% report falling asleep during the day without meaning to at least once a month.
How much time do you spend reading the Bible? How much time do you spend serving your church? How much time do you spend in worship and prayer? It is tempting to say we are too busy.
But we are busy by choice, not necessity.
In a world where we spend 42 hours a week watching TV and looking at social media, we clearly are not pressed for time. If we are spending as many hours as a full-time job on pure entertainment, surely we can find a little time for the One who gave His life for us.
“They remained standing in place for three hours while the Book of the Law of the Lord their God was read aloud to them. Then for three more hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord their God” Nehemiah 9:3.
Following seven days of hearing the word read aloud, the Hebrew people spent another six hours with God, standing, listening to the word, confessing sin, and worshipping. This was an unusual time of calling the people back to God.
I am not arguing you need to spend six hours with God every day. But have you ever? Have you ever gotten alone with God and given Him a whole day? Have you ever fasted and spent an entire day reading the word and talking to your Heavenly Father?
If you are too busy for God, you are too busy.
Drop an hour of television viewing. Put the phone down and give God your undivided attention. Doesn’t He deserve it? Doesn’t God deserve a measurable slice of your time, a little fraction of the day? Can you give him a quarter of an hour? Can you give him half an hour?
Psalm 1:1-2 instructs us to meditate on the word in the morning and evening.
Matthew 6:33 reminds us to seek His kingdom first.
If you are too busy for God, you are too busy.
We make time for the things that are important to us. If you cannot set aside some time for God, be honest with yourself: everything else in your life is more important to you than He is.
“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus departed and went out to a desolate place, and there He prayed” Mark 1:35.
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