How Do You Spend Your Day?

How do you spend your day? According to a study by the University of Maryland, the average American spends his or her day like this: 71/2 hours sleeping, 7 hours working, 2 hours watching TV, 11/2 hours doing household chores, 11/2 hours traveling, a little over 2 hours taking care of personal needs, about ½ hour caring for family members, and about 2 hours in socializing and recreation. The average person is left with little or no time for spiritual matters.

So, how do we make time for God when overwhelmed by diapers, dance lessons, and deadlines? We make the decision to do so. John Lancaster Spalding once said, "What we love to do, we find the time to do." All of us know from experience that this is true. We can always seem to find time to squeeze an extra round of golf or an extra day shopping into our busy schedules. We make time for them because they are things we love to do.

When we do not give our time to God and spiritual matters, the problem is not our busy schedules, but our lack of love. If we truly love God then we will make time for him. Maybe, this is why Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37).

Consider this, if we would read the Bible at standard pulpit speed (slow enough to be heard and understood), the reading time would be seventy-one hours. If we break that down into minutes and divide it into 365 days, we could read the entire Bible – cover to cover – using only twelve minutes a day.

Imagine that! Twelve minutes a day for a year to completely read the Bible! Is it too much to ask to spend twelve minutes a day reading about God? Does God occupy a large enough space in our hearts to give him twelve minutes? How will you spend your day?