Carol J German

Every one of us has 168 hours each week to live life. Every one of us has choices in how to spend those 168 hours. When you choose to follow Christ, those 168 hours take on a whole new look. You will walk by a new set of priorities where the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit take precedence. Everything else in your life comes under His authority.

You may be thinking, how does someone with a job and family find the time to walk by faith in such a way? I have so much to do. How am I supposed to take time to study the Bible and get to know God when I have responsibilities to tend to?

The struggle is real. From the time you get up in the morning until you go to bed, you are busy. Kids need to be fed, bills need to get paid, grass needs to be mowed, that presentation at work was due yesterday, your boss wants you to go on a business trip, your son has baseball practice, and your daughter dances. You are trying to get everything done so you can go on that get away for the week-end, and now your aging parents are needing your help.

“Help! Calgon, take me away!”

Calgon isn’t what we need. We need Jesus. For those who don’t recognize what Calgon is, it was the slogan for bath salts to soak in a tub to relax you. It was big in the 1970’s. While a warm bath gives reprieve from your busy days, it is just that, a momentary reprieve. What Jesus wants to give you is eternal. Jesus will slow you down so you can breath on a daily basis. Jesus will teach you what is important in life and help you to organize your days where He sits in authority in your heart.

Every person has time to know God and His Word.

If you have time to entertain others in your home, look at social media, keep up with worldly news and sports scores, go to a movie or music concert, shop to pass time, go out to dinner, talk on the phone, text, read a book, watch TV, ski, swim, walk, jog (these are just a few things) you have time for God. You just have to reprioritize what is in your life. We all make time for this kind of stuff while working long hours and raising a family, but it isn’t God’s way.

Are you interested in His way?

First things first, you must be willing to surrender your 168 hours each week to God. You must loosen that tight grip you have on _______ that keeps you busy each day. Yes, this includes important stuff like your job so you can earn money to live, to taking care of your family, to paying your bills on time. It also includes the less important stuff like hobbies, interests, travel, sports, entertainment, etc.

Your whole life belongs to God.

The question is, will you let the Trinity show you their way of living? This is scary as well as humbling, but if you would give God a chance, He will show you a much better way to live where you and your family will have time for God as well as each other. He will teach you how to love in such a way that needs will be met on a deep level. Unity and harmony would be the aroma in your home.

If believers would take the time to clear away worldly “fluff” (as I call it) and allow the Holy Spirit to lead their days, marriages would be grounded, and the family unit would be flourishing. This fluff is all the good stuff in your life that is not necessarily beneficial to your well-being. It’s like artificial additives that give processed food their flavor. It’s really not good for us, yet we eat it anyway because it’s convenient, or it’s popular.

It is time to eat whole food that will enrich our bodies, souls, and minds. God’s whole food is His Word. It is time to put our calendars on diets and allow room for the Trinity to show us how to live for the eternal Kingdom rather than this worldly kingdom that is chaotic, competitive, and individualistic. One kingdom is heading to destruction while the other is eternal. One is based on evil and hate, while the other is goodness and love. One is full of violence while the other has peace.

Read Romans 5:12-21 to see the difference between the two worlds. Take some time and allow God to reveal to you how you do have time for Him. Be open to letting go of things, yes, even those things you love. God must be your first true love. Let the things in this world fall to the side as you seek His love, and watch as He fills you with new things, better things that perhaps you never realized you were needing.

Peace and contentment will be yours when you follow wholeheartedly. Jesus is worth your time.

“And this is the way to have eternal life, to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one You sent to earth. I brought glory to You here on earth by completing the work You gave me to do.” (John 17:3-4)