Tuesday, November 15, 2011

An Undivided Heart

"For You are great and do marvelous deeds; You alone are God. Teach me Your way, LORD, that I may rely on Your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name. I will praise You, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your name forever." -Psalm 86:10-12 (NIV)

What grabs your attention?  What lures you away from Him?

For me, it's not always what appears to be the "bad stuff" -- most of the time, it's the busy stuff. Sleeping until the last second, jumping out of bed and straight into the shower, I miss my quiet time with Him.  I am off to the races and thrive on adrenaline rushes and multi-tasking. There's a catch though: too often, I let the urgent overshadow the important. 

Not surprising.  Once I took a personal inventory/assessment and it showed that, on a scale from 1-10, my sense of urgency was a 9. What does that mean? It means that everything appears urgent to me.  I like attacking things and getting things done.  Especially, if it means I get to help someone else. Sounds like a great attribute, doesn't it?  The truth is, maybe it is...in a job interview.  But in life, it's vital that I learn to take care of the important things too. Things like starting my day with my Maker, giving Him my undivided attention so that He, in turn, can give me an undivided heart.

Can you relate?

The coolest thing is that we don't have to create an undivided heart, all we have to do is ask for Him to give us one.

Father God, Creator of our hearts, we thank You for this incredible day.  It is in our very nature to want to take care of everyone and everything around us...all at the same time.  Yet in this race of life, we often allow the urgency of others to overshadow the importance of simply being with You. We ask that You give us an undivided heart for You and You alone so that in each moment of our day You will be glorified. -In Jesus' Name, Amen.

8 comments:

  1. I love your statement that sums it up so well: "For me, it's not always what appears to be the "bad stuff" -- most of the time, it's the busy stuff." Thanks for this wonderful post!

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  2. For me it's forsaking the important for the urgent...and it's usually an urgency that I've created myself because of a selfish choice earlier in the day, i.e. hitting that snooze too many times. Thank you for this eye-opening reminder!

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  3. Hey Donna! I always remember that acronym for B.U.S.Y. (Being Under Satan's Yoke). Have a great day with Him!
    -Luanne

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  4. Pam - what you said about selfishness and the snooze button really hit home with me...thanks for that. I hope this week, despite all the craziness, you enjoy some still moments with Him!
    -Luanne

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  5. Thanks so much for your encouragement, Kerrie! I pray you experience quiet moments just with Him this week and with an undivided heart, may those moments carry over into the "manic and mundane" as well, for He is always with you:)
    -Luanne

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  6. Too many times I think I'll spend my whole morning drive time with Him. But how much of my attention does He really get when I'm driving? Way too many distractions. I needed the reality check Luanne. He needs to be my very first thing in the mornings.

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  7. Good morning Lorna! I think spending your whole morning drive with Him is awesome! I have about a 40-45 minute drive each morning where I can crank up the Praise & Worship and then I try to remember to turn the music off and spend at least 15 minutes, just listening for His voice (His monologue, as Tim likes to call it.) Yet you're right: there is nothing like being with Him & His Word in the stillness and quietness of a new day with no distractions. The coolest thing is no matter where you are: He is there for you:)

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  8. When I do spend time in Scripture first thing in the morning, I find that there are opportunities throughout the day to apply God's Word. Sadly, I don't make myself go to sleep early enough in the night, so the snooze button takes over in the morning. I can relate in a huge way.

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