What if you could spend time with anyone, as often as you want? Who would you choose, and how would you choose to spend your time?
Spend time with morally solid people and they’ll rub off on you for the best. Do the opposite and you’ll be impacted in entirely different ways. We become like the people we spend time with. What does your life say about the company you keep? Who are you becoming?
My sons and I have started a Tuesday morning time where we pray together, talk, and read the Bible. It’s nothing fancy — but it’s designed to spend time together, so we rub off on each other — and God rubs off on us.
If there is one person I could spend time with as often as I want, it’s God. I could use a lot more of Him rubbing off on me. The greatest gift I can give my sons is to help them understand, at this early age, that they will develop good character in proportion to spending time with God, in His Word.
This week I was talking with my younger son, Simeon, as we looked over 2 Peter 1:2 (ESV): “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.“
This verse provides a wealth of insight that we could glean with the limited time we had to dive in. (We both got up later than planned).
I explained to Simeon that undeserved favor (grace) and peace are things we can experience more and more as we spend time with God and walk with Him. God has an endless supply of each — and He wants to dispense them to anyone who wants them.
What about you? Could you use more of God’s undeserved favor and peace throughout your day?
My hunch is that you could. The great news is that you can — if you’re willing to spend time with God. Guess what else is a result of peace? Courage. Courage is something we develop in proportion to the time we spend with God.
If you spend time with God you cannot help but become more courageous. Courage may not come immediately, but a steady commitment to spending time with God makes the increase of courage in your life inevitable. Try it and see for yourself.
The single most important thing you can do each day is spend time with God. Christian meditation is fundamentally different from other forms of meditation, because Christian meditation directly focuses on the Word of God, the Bible. When we spend time in God’s Word, we spend time with God, the Author. And when we spend time with God, we become more like Him in character. We become aware of his undeserved favor, and His peace floods our lives.
Sometimes a flood is sudden. At other times, it’s gradual. In either case, you and I need to be flooded with all the goodness that results in spending time with God.
How about you? What can you do today, and this week, to make more room for God so you become like Him in character?
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Michael Anthony is author of “A Call For Courage” a speaker and blogger at CourageMatters.com, and lead pastor of Grace Fellowship in York, Pennsylvania.