Time with God

So the past months, reading the Bible and spending time with the Lord has gotten put on a back burner.  This is not a good idea, as feasting on His Word is so important.  As the new year is beginning, I really desire to make a better effort to be in the Word and to spend time with Him.  But as I am making this commitment, I have to ask myself, "Why?"  Why do we spend time with the Lord? 

Does it make him love us any more than He already does?  No.

When we spend time with him does it mean he must bless us with a wonderful day, free of frustrations and full of great surprises?!  No, although I sometimes like to think it does.

Does spending time with him make us better than others?  No, for Romans 3:12 says, "All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." (italics mine)

So why do we do it then?

Growing up, I really felt like if I didn't spend time with God, He wouldn't love me anymore.  I felt that by spending time with Him, I was upholding 'my end of the deal.'  But I now know that there is no 'my end of the deal.'  When Christ came and paid the price for our sins, God took away the law.  Are we required to make sacrifices and offerings as the Israelites were?  Can only priests meet with God (and only one time a year) as it was before Christ?  No!  We now have full access to God, and he doesn't require ANYTHING of us, except that we put our faith in Him.

"We cannot truly live without the Bible because true life comes to us through the Christ revealed across its pages."

Trent Hunter

I couldn't have said it better myself.  (And here is the link to his entire post: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/01/01/bible-eater-a-plan-for-feeding-on-christ-in-2012/ )

Grace and peace,

Kelli