Time

Alyssa and I love playing tennis together! We played tennis as we dated, while we were engaged, and while we have been married. We have played a good bit of tennis in our relationship. Alyssa used to hate playing with me because I was awful! I truly struggled to keep a volley. If you are like me and do not know that much about tennis, a good volley in tennis is the equivalent to the shot clock running down in an isolation situation in a basketball game. As mine and Alyssa's relationship grew so did my tennis game. It is not like we walked out on the tennis court and I became the next Roger Fedder (the G.O.A.T. of tennis). It took time for my tennis game to grow and get better. I still have A LOT of room to grow in my tennis game so I am always learning and trying to get better.

A couple of days ago Alyssa and I went to go play tennis. I was listening to my "hype" playlist to get pumped for the match! We got to the court, got our rackets and good tennis balls out, and then I stretched. We started to hit back and forth and get warmed up. Before we started our match, five minutes in, Alyssa and I looked at each other and said, "You ready to go?" Haha! We packed everything up and got back into the car and went home! If we did this every time we went and played tennis my tennis game would slightly get better but not drastically. The same is true in our spiritual relationship with God that is made possible through His Son Jesus Christ.

So many people think that spending five minutes a day in God's Word or praying is going to make them spiritually mature. IT WONT! Yes, spending five minutes in God's Word and praying is better than none but it will not make you spiritually mature. Alyssa and I spent hours on the tennis court at a time and that is how I learned from her and that is why my game improved. How can we expect to become spiritually mature and in deep relationship with God if we get the Word out and five minutes in we say, "I am ready to go!" Again, it will not happen.

My generation is know for expecting maximum results with minimal effort. This thought process does not work when it comes to a mature and deep relationship with God! We must put in maximum effort! Matthew 6:33 tells us that we are to "seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness." We must put forth effort to seek His Kingdom and righteousness first. Our culture is a battle for first place in our hearts! Our culture is also a battle for time. Ephesians 5:16 tells us to make "the best use of the time, because the days are evil."

With tears in my eyes as I write this, I long for everyone to spend TIME with God each day. Everyone has the same amount of time in a day but we all use it differently! I desire in my own life but also in the life of others, that spending time with God is the most important thing in our life. We support this claim by spending countless hours with Him so that we can grow in relationship with Him!

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