The Importance of Daily Time

"Give us today our daily bread" Matthew 6:11

I guess I've often wondered about the need for daily time with God. First of all, that's tough to do. It's tough to find time every single day to spend with God, whether that be reading the Bible, in prayer, listening to worshipful music, or just meditating and thinking on His words to me. Sometimes I'll get lazy, and I don't spend that extra time with Him, that time in prayer. And you know what? I notice it. I find that when I am taking the time to spend those few moments with God, that life just goes so much better. It's when I step away and take a break or take a few days and not give it my all that the real challenges come up, or I find myself more crabby and irritable.

The fact is, Jesus told us so long ago exactly what we needed. That we need that time with God each and every day. Right here, in The Lord's Prayer, found in Matthew, chapter 6, Jesus tells us that we need our daily bread. That bread is Himself. Jesus is all we need, he is our nourishment, our everything, and when we have Him as the focus of our lives, everything goes so much better. I think it's worth noting here and pointing out that it does specifically say here, "Daily Bread" not weekly, not occasional, but daily-meaning each and every day.

I do notice greatly when my daily time wanes. When I spend that daily time with God and my Bible, then my day-to-day activities just hold so much more joy in them. I spend time in the garden and I am marvelled by the miracle of nature and how God causes things to grow from seed. When my quiet time slips, that garden is a chore, something to be tended. It does make a difference, but I"ll tell you, it doesn't take much for that daily time to slip. It's very, very easy to find excuses not to, because there are already never enough hours in the day. Yet I have to keep reminding myself that the rest of my day will go so much better, will be so much more productive, if I just give those first few minutes to Him. Because when I'm not taking my time with Him, life just isn't as grand as it is when I do take that time.