Raised to Life: Time with God
Read Luke 24
The Easter season a wonderful time of year. It finally starts to get warm outside. The grandkids get to run around in the backyard instead of the living room. Barbecues become a weekly staple, and we start smoking pulled pork and grilling jerk chicken. Baby animals start appearing on the farms. Everything comes to life after the dreary, cold winter. It’s also a fond reminder that Jesus has raised to life those who have surrendered to Him.
The holy week leading up to Easter Sunday is such a necessary time to reflect. What have you been neglecting in your walk with the Lord? What have you let get in the way? We all have fallible moments. Consequently, moments like these can either spark our devotion, or start a downward spiral. Sometimes daily life occurrences come between us and the Lord. But when it goes from one day to a week, or a month, or longer, there is something deeper going on.
Quality time with God is needed to stay connected. Without it, we wither and fade. It doesn’t take long to go from being too busy one day to pray and read, to weeks of not praying or reading. Before you know it, you’re fretting about money, and anxious about work. You’re asking everyone you know for advice about your unruly teenager. You find yourself gossiping about your neighbor, and caught up in family issues. It doesn’t take long.
Jesus carried the cross up to Calvary out of love. Because He did this, we have to reflect on what we can sacrifice to remain in a close knit relationship with Him. When life gets hectic and tries to steal our time with Him, we have to be aggressive in pursuing the moments we can devote to Him. We have to choose to read and study the Bible or watch TV, to spend on social media or devote time to serving others. Much of how close we are to God comes down to what we choose to do with our time.
On Easter Sunday this year, remember that Jesus told us He was going to raise to life after being crucified. Because of this, we can be absolutely certain that anything we give up in order to be closer to Him will be more than worth it. He has raised you to life eternal, and He will raise you to abundant life in this world once again through time with Him.
Happy Easter, we love y’all. Remember, we’re always saving you a seat at Community Family Church!
Pastor Tom
Want to receive news and information from Tommy Bates Ministries? Then sign-up below, it’s Free!
