WALKING WITH GOD ALL DAY

I like to think that many of you who read this blog already walk with God throughout your days.  At least I pray that this is true.  However I have often heard the plaintive cry among those serious for Christ:  How can we possibly do that?  We need to concentrate on our work and our responsibilities.  We cannot be always thinking just about God.  It breaks my heart when that question is asked because it is such a privilege to be aware of Him through out our day.  But how?

This is not a new subject for me to write about, but my Thursday night study is all about communion and I have been given some new insight from the lesson for this week.  I got so excited about it that that I have been chomping at the bit for a chance to sit down and share some of these thoughts with you.  And my Tuesday morning study is also deep into the open door of communion with God that came as a result of the veil being torn in two at the time of Christ’s death.  Coincidence?   I don’t think so, do you?

To quote from True Community, by Jerry Bridges:  Communion should not cease with the end of our morning ‘quiet time’… we are surely not done with Him for the rest of the day… our entire day should be spent in devotion to Him…in dependence… in delighting… in an attitude of doing (what) will please Him.  From David to Paul we find people who had serious responsibilities and still managed to think of God throughout each day (and night.)

That sounds like a big order, but the scriptures are full of references to people leaning on God and His promises throughout their days:  Adam walked with God daily.  Enoch walked with God and pleased God.  Job continually walked and talked with God on behalf of himself and his children.  When God called Moses, it was not for a part-time relationship.  He required Moses attention to Him on a very high and personal level.  And one thing Moses had to learn was that He also needed some assistance from the people.  The prophets were interrupted constantly by messages from God that needed to be delivered, but they carried on the duties of daily living and survival as they waited to hear from Him.

And the beat goes on as seen in Hebrews 11. Over and over we find this kind of devotion in those who truly loved their God.  They paid attention to Him even as they went about their daily tasks.  They talked, they listened, they did.

Some of you may remember my comments on the ever popular new subject of distracted driving.  I remarked that it is impossible to drive un-distracted because our minds cannot fix on one thing for long periods of time. We have to continually practice our driving skill in order to default to correct responses when sudden changes come while our mind is away.  In a way, what I’m thinking about today is distracted working.  Whatever our responsibilities are in what we are doing, we cannot think ONLY about that.  Our minds wander to our friends and loved ones and to  conversations from last night or  disagreements we had this morning or how good our last meal was or what we are planning to do in the evening. Even to things in the distant past and near future.  Anything to get a break and refresh.  Why not include God in those “refresh” moments?

This brings to mind a very sweet mother who she takes great joy in home-schooling her children, not just for their sakes, but for the privilege of sharing in communion and worship of God with them as the lessons unfold.  Pastors are not the only ones who are blessed to be in the Word and the work of God everyday, all day. :) Mothers have a terrific advantage in their world of raising Godly children.  Thank God for mothers who care about doing that all day, everyday.

If you have read my very first page in this blog, you may remember that this blog is based on the subject of “distracted thinking.” It is based on the fact that some mornings I pick up my coffee cup and stare out the window, daydreaming about the wonders of God.  Coffee cup thinking is what I call that.

The question being asked, though is “how do we include God throughout the day without being monks, or pastors, or worthless at work?”  The simple answer is to fill our hearts and minds with God so that thinking about Him is as natural to us as breathing and as natural as thinking of our loved ones here on earth.

When I first started on this journey of growing in Christ, my thoughts were more on my needs and on my failings than on anything else.  Slowly, praising God became the center of my thinking.  One thing that I believe helped me (besides the 2 to 3 hours a day that I was privileged to spend reading and studying His Word) was listening to contemporary Christian music.  I did that because it was necessary for me to become comfortable with it by learning to listen to what the words were and how to sing without the aid of “notes” to follow.  It took me a couple of years to reach that goal and, in the meantime, I was greatly blessed with the presence of God in my daily walk.  What a blessing that has been over time.

I guess the point I am trying to make is that we can choose thoughts of God to be our “default” distraction.  And we can practice making that choice.  And we can make a decision to learn this action by remembering this fact about God:  God chooses to walk with us.  His heart is set on us choosing to walk with Him.  We must not “put Him away” as we set our Bibles down.  We must keep Him close in the back of our minds and in our hearts every day, all day.  May we all practice keeping God foremost in our thoughts as we proceed through life looking forward to being actually with Him as He has promised us.  As Jerry suggests, “Let us take time to simply enjoy Him and let Him enjoy us.”  And must we also remember that God is present with us every minute of every day even if we thought we left Him at home.  Praise the Lord!  Amen.