Biblical Success - 5 Hurdles in the Path of Our RaceSample

Hurdle #5 - The Tendency to Forget God’s Word and Works

In our organization I am known as “Quiet Time Buck”. I have a passion for teaching and sharing the value and benefit of spending the first hour of every day with the Lord in His Word, prayer, and meditation guided by His Spirit, and beginning and ending that hour in journaling. Quiet time Bible study is a well known Christian discipline and advocated by most, if not all, of the great heroes of our Faith. 

Journaling is less widely promoted. To me it is the greatest pushback against hurdle #5 - The Tendency to Forget God’s Word and Works. 

Our contemporary culture moves so fast and new information comes at us so quickly it is hard to remember what we had for breakfast, let alone what the message was in church last week. We can’t remember what the scripture verse we memorized years ago said or to think about how it might apply to current life situations. It’s not intentional; it’s just the way it is. 

If we do nothing to resist this trend we can miss the very things that we need most to succeed in running our race successfully. The time with God will only be maximally effective if we learn, retain, and apply ourselves to do His will in our lives. At the end of our race these are the only things that will matter to us at all. Knowing and doing God’s will guided by His Spirit and His Word will matter. The bottom line of the big picture is simply that. 

We have a short time to live on the planet and during that time we will do a myriad of things. Some will matter in heaven and impact how we spend eternity; most will not. Here’s a clue: remembering what we had for breakfast won’t matter; remembering to pray for our unsaved neighbor to be saved before we eat, might. 

One of the “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” is to “Put First Things First.” What tools are you using to keep your eye on eternity while your body is still on earth?