I had an opportunity to talk with one of my mentors yesterday. I was asking him about working through scheduling as a pastor. I have heard so many pastors say, “The work of a pastor is never done!” I agree! This is all the more reason to be disciplined in the use of time and resources.
Probably the most precious “gold nugget” I collected from that conversation had nothing to do with quantity of time but with quality of time. He encouraged me to make sure that my devotional time with the Lord was separate from my sermon preparation. Then he quoted Psalm 27:8 and encouraged me to make it the dominating principle of my devotional life.
You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, LORD, do I seek.”
Psalm 27:8
My friend encouraged me to seek the face of God in my devotional life. He then cautioned that seeking God’s face and seeking God’s hand are two separate things. Often our times of Bible reading and prayer are focused on asking God to act rather than getting to know Him personally. It is not wrong to seek God’s hand and ask Him to act on our behalf. In fact, Jesus tells us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” However, the priority of our lives should be to know God and to grow in that knowledge of Him.
So, I encourage you, especially in this time of the year when many are looking for a Bible reading plan for the year ahead, seek God’s face!
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.
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