By Annelise Jagitsch
Have you ever stayed up late talking to someone? I have. Whether it be on the phone or in person. You know you will be tired the next day but it's worth spending time with this person. They are special to you and you would rather talk to them than sleep. There's a bond between the two of you. Now, have you ever woken up early to spend time with someone? I have a few times. You again are giving up sleep to spend time with this person because they mean so much to you.
I've found that it's easy for me to sacrifice sleep to spend time with people who are special to me. However, when it comes to spending time with God I struggle. I don’t want to wake up early or stay up late to spend time with Him. It’s not that I don’t love Him. I just struggle to spend time with Him. Maybe it’s because I can’t see Him or audibly hear Him. Maybe it’s because I’ve never met Him face to face. I’m not sure. But for some reason, I struggle to spend time with Him. Many people do.
The other day I was thinking about this and I began to realize something. I may love God and I may do what He says most of the time but that is not enough. I have a relationship with the people in my life who are important to me because I spend time with them and get to know them personally. If I want a relationship with God and I want to truly love Him I must spend time getting to know Him for myself. So do I love God? Yes. Do I love Him enough? No. Spending time with Him should be as important to me as spending time with the people around me. If I can stay up to talk to my friends or wake up early to spend time with someone special, I should spend even more time with Jesus. He’s given me everything I have and more and the least I can do is love Him in return.
So next time you are struggling to spend time with Jesus evaluate who in your life is important to you and ask yourself why Jesus didn’t make the top of the list. He should be everything to you. Spending time with Him should be your first priority. Love Him. He loves you!