haha! I just love it when I surprise myself in the mornings with specialty coffee. Last night, I ran out of regular coffee as I was filling the tank for the morning brew, so I supplemented by adding a little of my favorite pre-ground flavored coffee: Starbucks Cinnamon. Yummmmmmmmmmmm! Anyway, when I got up this morning and poured my first cup, I was so pleasantly surprised to taste the sweet cinnamon in my cup instead of just the daily blend. It was awesome! :) What a great way to start the morning. Especially on long-run Fridays! :) Way to go, Thursday-night Jill. Good call. haha! :)
So, yes, this morning I had a wonderful time out on the road. It was a little breezy, which made it appropriately challenging, but it was a great run all around. And it was good timing for a long run thought-wise, as I've had a lot on my mind and plate lately that I've needed to process with the Lord. But that's for my heart to know. Not the entire internet. :)
But there is one thing that I had to share on the blog this morning. One lesson the Lord is really teaching me is how to set and keep priorities, especially when it comes to how I spend my time.
I had coffee with a reeeeeeeally good friend, yesterday, and she was talking about how busyness distracts her from intimacy with the Lord. And I totally identified. If we want to develop intimacy with the Lord, we have to choose to cultivate it.
There is ALWAYS going to be something to do. There are always chores to do, errands to run, appointments to keep, entertaining events to attend. That's just the way of life. We will never have a reason to be bored in today's world. (Ladies, can I get an amen to the phrase that a woman's work is never done?)
Since that is the truth--and it is--we have to CHOOSE to spend time with the Lord. Let me say it again: WE HAVE TO CHOOSE IT. The things that vie for our attention and beg us to pay attention to them immediately will always scream at us. We have to choose to say no to them. And we can!! Do you realize that? You (and I) have a choice in the matter! You have a choice as to how you will spend your time.
Yes, there may be groceries to buy. There may be a car to fix. There may be a coffee date that needs to be kept. There may be trash to be taken out. There may be a project that has to be done. But do any of those come before Christ? NO! The world screams at us to obey it while the Lord waits for us to choose Him.
We have to! We can say no to the things of the world in order to spend time with Him. It may seem like we don't have a choice, but we do. And it's our responsibility to take it. No one else will make it for us. If we're waiting for life to slow down, we'll be waiting forever. And meanwhile, our relationship with God will grow stale and our souls will dry out. We will become barren wastelands spiritually and feel completely empty and burned out.
BUT...If we choose to ignore the world--to put it on the second tier of priorities--we will find that our souls are filled. I believe that those tasks on the to-do list will probably be a little more enjoyable, too, because we'll have been reminded that we are loved and have a purpose. God, our Father, is with us in them all. If we don't spend time with Him, we'll tend to forget that and lose sight of the meaning of the tasks. (Yes, even laundry can bring Him glory, but we won't realize it if we don't spend time with Him beforehand. See what I'm saying?)
Today, I totally want to encourage you to CHOOSE to say NO to the world. Do it regularly. You have to! No one else will do it for you. People won't stop asking for your time. Tasks won't stop demanding that you conquer them. It's only going to happen if you make the choice to do it. You have that choice. You do! It may not seem like it, but you do. Make the wise choice!
You'd be proud of me. I actually just realized that I hadn't been doing that myself, so I carved out some Jesus time tomorrow and postponed my car appointment until next week. Thank You, Lord, for the power to choose. Help us all to choose You! :)
Joshua 24:15 - "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
Love you all! Big hugs!!
- Jill
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