A while ago I came across a small Christian devotional called 15 Seconds with God. That's right, I am not making this up. I mention the title of this book, not to recommend it, but because I found it rather disturbing. It was bad enough when they started coming out with five minute bibles and devotionals. These were followed by the one minute Bible and a slew of minute devo's, which were, of course, much more popular than the daunting five minute versions!
But now we are down to 15 seconds with God. Really? That's all we have left. I realize the author of this book probably did not have in mind that readers might only spend 15 seconds with God. However, the title is rather telling of where we are in our culture. We are so busy that we find it hard to fit things into our schedules, even things that we might say are very important to us. Every single one of us gets 86,400 seconds per day. Even if we only spent 1% of our day investing in our relationship with God, that is about 14 minutes. That would be a great start for most people.
What if I told you I wrote a book on how to have a great relationship with your spouse in 15 seconds a day? Or how about a great friendship or relationship with your kids in 15? You would tell me I was crazy. Then why do we expect anything less from our relationship with God? Friends, Jesus Christ is passionately pursuing a relationship with you, he loves you so much that he gave his entire life to demonstrate it, and he wants to have a relationship with you. Relationships take a significant investment, and if there was any relationship worth that effort, this would be it. Jesus is worthy of more than 15 seconds of our time.
I am not suggesting a move towards legalism, or asking you to become a "better" Christian. My purpose it not to make you feel guilty (although conviction is always healthy). I am suggesting that we are guilty of devaluing the worth of our relationship with God. Grace is free, but its not cheap. It came at a high cost. I say again, Jesus is worthy of more than 15 seconds of our day.
Good word! ~ Nicoele Bailey
ReplyDeleteAmen brother. Great post. If people understood who God is and what He has done for us and what the Bible actually is they would be spending hours every day. 14 minutes would be a good start. God can save someone with 14 minutes for sure. It hurt to think of how much God is ignored even by those who claim to be Christian. Hope you are doing well and I pray that God continues bless you and your family and continue to reveal His glory. God bless! Doug Avent
ReplyDeleteAaron,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your "desire" for God, but I think you were a bit hasty in your judgment on this one. 15 seconds with God is NOT about ONLY 15 seconds a day. It is rather about "meaningful" content versus tomes of black and white pages of scripture or devotional materials. Unfortunately most Christians have equated "spiritual maturity" with who has the most "information" about God. The truth is, "spiritual maturity" is rather about the meaningful content of my contacts with God (intimacy in relationship). He is looking for "lovers" NOT "worshippers or servants."
And, I assume you know this based on your great relationship with Sarah, "lovers" who do both "worship" and "service" deliver the most satisfying of both. Persons can "worship" objects that wouldn't spit on them if they were on fire (like a movie or rock star). And a person can "serve" with absolutely no respect or desire for the one they serve. However, when lovers offer acts of affection instead of acts of service, their relationship deepens and enlarges. When lovers "worship" (place value and worth on) each other, both are delighted and enriched.
So, may I suggest that my days are filled with a very large number of 15 second encounters with God and I have come to love God so intensely that my family members are often jealous of my time with God. Bear in mind as I say this, that God enables me to give my family members more quality time than most men ever experience. Unfortunately, even the most selfless of humans, can want more than his or her fair share of another's time, affection, emotion, investment, and so forth.
Please use the following link to view some of the "meaningful" content on the 15 seconds with God site. And as for your disclaimer about legalism, it is very weak when set against the backdrop of your message against 15 seconds with God.
Actually, I don't know of a single believer who would even contemplate ONLY 15 seconds with God per day. It takes longer than that to say the blessing over dinner in most homes.
Keep on searching the scriptures and growing in grace. Don't let up for even a moment. And continue to lead your family into the presence of The Living God for as many seconds each day as they will go there with you.
shalom,
BoB
Bob,
ReplyDelete"Meyst" I presume. Great to hear from you brother. I appreciate your well thought out and articulate comment. This is the kind of conversation I am hoping will come through this blog among other things.
First of all, to your comment, "Unfortunately most Christians have equated "spiritual maturity" with who has the most "information" about God. I could not agree with you more. The goal is not information, rather transformation. By no means do I want to suggest that simply by having a longer "quiet time" we will grow in our maturity and love for Christ.
As for your comment, "Actually, I don't know of a single believer who would even contemplate ONLY 15 seconds with God per day." Sadly, I must disagree to an extent on this one. I think there are many Christians today who are so busy or so caught up with worldly affairs that they do try to fit God in a box, and would love to feel validated with a smaller box.
Finally, I will admit that my tone may have come across too critical. Also, I was probably not very fair to the authorial intent of this book. I simply found the title very striking, and it brought out my concern with certain aspects of Evangelical Christianity in America. I fear that some people want "god on the cheap." They don't want the full scope of discipleship, simply a "get out of hell free card."