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Martin Luther, the Reformer once said that if he had a 10-hour job to do, he would spend the first hour praying.
You may not agree with that approach to work or prayer, but you’re probably missing the point. The point was not to recommend a method for work or prayer, but to emphasize how the Christian must always devote the cream of time for the things of God.
Most times, the things that call for your attention on a daily and continuing basis create the scenario of a tumultuous sea: loud, disorderly, confusing, and pressing obligations. From parents worrying over children to children taking care of aged parents; from career and business worries to financial obligations; from your health concerns to daily needs; from social obligations to personal struggles.
In the midst of all of these, oh that you will hear your Lord and Saviour saying: follow me, follow my example. In Matthew 13:22, our Lord explained that “the seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.”
Don’t be like that seed. Do not let the worries of this world take your heart and time away from all the things to which your Lord has called you.
“Men ought to pray and not faint,” He said. So, devote the cream of time to prayer in spite of your busy schedule.
“Occupy till I come,” He said. So, keep yourself occupied with the work of the kingdom even though your own work and obligations are pressing you down. You have needs of your own, but He calls you to take care of His sick, distressed and abject brothers and sisters. You are pressed for time, but He calls you to tell others about the kingdom, making disciples, bringing the lost to baptism and teaching those younger in faith.
Your love for Him should be sufficient to compel and constrain you to do all these. But remember Mark 10:28-30 as well: Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve given up everything to follow you,” he said. “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life.
So, no matter how busy the day or days ahead look like, remember that:
Jesus calls us o’er the tumult
of our life’s wild, restless sea;
day by day his voice invites me,
saying “Christian, follow me!”
Let us pray.
Lord, please grant us the wisdom and grace to devote the cream of our time and our resources to You and Your kingdom and to seek You and love You above all else. In Jesus name, Amen.
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Pilgrim’s Joy Devotional, a collection of meditations inspired by Christian hymns, is a production of GospelBellsRadio.com, a community of believers learning together, praying together, and engaging the culture with the mind of Christ.
This episode was written and read by Olufemi Oguntokun. Please leave us comments in the box below.
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