I woke up grumpy from my nap

Today I asked my mum what my next blog should be about. It seemed fitting since she hardly remembered what the last one was about - but she did remember the verse and the questions I had no answers for. She may not have remembered much, but there was apparently no heresy so we're on the right track, kiddos. Mum's suggestion was, "What's the reason for a quiet time?" 

So, buckle up. My washing is on and I've got all night to ramble on about this one. First point, thanks mum for choosing a convicting topic for me. No surprises there. It's the convicting topics that make us grow and change and are usually the things that need to be addressed. Quiet times and there reason/importance is one of those topics for me. 

Having a regular quiet time is not something I've ever excelled at. I typically go with the flow, I don't make plans and when I do, I cancel them more often than not. So for me, trying to set a time for a quiet time has never been easy (it's also never helped that I work weird hours, but this is me trying to excuse my laziness). My reasons for lack of discipline when it comes to quiet times are literally just all really lame excuses. My life isn't that busy compared to the rest of the human world, I just like to fill it up with nothingness (as most of us tend to do). All this is just poor excuses for not making time to dwell in the scripture.

I'm gonna put a pause on picking at all my flaws, there are plenty of them and most I would much rather ignore right now. Instead, we're going to look at some potential answers to mum's question. Verses and things that have helped me desire to spend time in the Word and in prayer. Obviously, my ideas aren't the be-all and end-all, I still struggle with consistency, but life is about progress and this is how I've made some baby steps.

Let's start with one of my favourite verses, 1 Peter 1:15-16, "but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" This is one of the greatest commandments we see in the NT. God is calling us to His high and perfect standard, something He knows we can never achieve, on our own. He draws us unto Himself and then calls us to be holy. The only way we can pursue this call to holiness is through the Holy Spirit and by denying our old selves and spending more time cultivating a holy life. Sounds easy enough, but yet we still struggle, because we're still at war with our sinful flesh and denying our own wants is actually a constant struggle. So, instead of me telling you how to do this, I'll just give you a verse that I find helpful. Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." We will slowly start to grow in sanctification when we submerge ourselves in scripture, the purest of all books to set our minds on.

How is any of this relevant to a quiet time, you're probably all asking. Well, if you gave me some more time to ramble more I might get to the point, just hold your horses. 

"Be holy, for I am Holy," reading this always makes me stop and marvel. Our God is Holy. How often do we forget that and need to be reminded? Daily. But in reality, how often are we reminded? Definitely not as often as we should be. So when we stop and let our minds wander to the Holiness of the God who has called us unto Himself we want to be near Him. The change within our hearts longs to be in communion with the Holy God who has given us life. The regenerated heart that we have as believers respond by wanting to, "be holy." We want to fulfil the calling we have and the beginning of that journey is with quiet times. We need to sacrifice our selfish habits and make time for ourselves to dwell in the scriptures. 

Not gonna lie, I have always wondered how to live a life that pleases God. I've just given myself the answer that I've always known but I like to ignore. We get caught up in trying to figure out what we should do, but the fact of the matter is that to live a life that glorifies God, is by living our lives as a sacrifice and finding our joy in God. But how can we live our lives as a sacrifice to God, if we don't spend quality time in His word? So, the more time we spend with God, the more we know how to glorify Him. 

I have really rambled my way through this one, and I've lost all train of thought now. So in closing, quiet times are important (mostly cause mum said) because we need to spend time in communion with our Creator. Naps are great and snacks are helpful but spending quality time thinking about God is even better.

Goodnight kids, time for a big nap.