Make Time

      Every relationship in life takes work, marriage, friendships, family and our faith. If we aren't actively working at these things we can allow them to fall to the wayside and we can lose them without realizing it until its too late. I will admit that I've allowed this to happen more than it should in my life, in one or all of those areas. Sometimes I've realized how lax I'd gotten and tried to make up for by putting in some extra effort, and other times when I realized it, they had already moved on or no longer wished to be close.
      Thankfully with God it's not like that, His love is unconditional and He will always take us back whether we've been investing in our relationship with Him or not. He is always willing to give us another chance. But that's no reason not to invest in a relationship with God, it's no reason to only call on Him when you need Him. He would hear you regardless and still show you love, but why aren't you investing in that relationship? Are there too many distractions? Is life too busy to take time to pray and chat with your Father? Are you too busy to read your Bible?
       I've used all those things as excuses, and more. I've heard lots of other excuses too, but getting right down to it, you're not too busy if you have time to play games on your phone or chat with people from the other side of the planet, you might be distracted but you aren't busy. We need to realize that what is here and now will fade away, these distractions are only temporary. The technology, the celebrities we pay paparazzi to stalk, (being honest that's what we invest in with TV shows like E!, or tabloids) or the mindless less than real 'reality' TV shows, these things are all temporary and truly fall short of the glory and joy that can be found in a relationship with the Father.
      Like any relationship it does take time and commitment to build, you have to put in effort, you have to make time for reading the word, for prayer, and take opportunities to learn to understand Him better. As someone who used to make excuses as to why I 'didn't have time' to do those things, let me tell you, it isn't as hard as you make it out to be in your mind.
      Don't have time to pray? What about when you're in the shower, driving to work or school, before meals as a family or at bedtime? It doesn't have to be formal to be a prayer, it could simply be 'Father thank you,' God loves to hear gratitude! I understand that reading the Bible can be a more difficult thing to manage sometimes, especially if you have children, but they have audio Bibles now that you can listen to in the car or at home. Or if your children are older, maybe just let them do their thing for 10; 20;or 30 minutes depending on their age while you read and get to know God. It could be the thing that inspires your child to do the same.
      Truth is, whether we mean to or not we don't invest in God because we choose not to, we let other things get in the way. But we can choose to do differently. We can incorporate conversations with Him, and time to read His word if we looked, but we don't because the truth is while we may say He is important to us, our actions are a poor show of it. If He is really important to you, if you are really wanting to seek Him and know Him, make time today and everyday.

Ephesians 5:15-17
 15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.