They remained standing in place for three hours while the Book of the Law of the LORD their God was read aloud to them. Then for three more hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the LORD their God. [Nehemiah 9.3]
How about that? Standing three hours while God's Word was read and then standing another three hours in repentance and worship...
Do we immediately dismiss this action as irrelevant? Do we immediately discount the necessity of this action for our own lives? What gives us the authority to do that?
Now, before we go and proudly say, "Jesus" in answer to the questions above, let us be reminded here that simply saying, "Jesus" fixes nothing!
Examples:
“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. [Matthew 7.21 (Jesus)]
A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered. [Acts 19.13-16]
Jesus is indeed "the answer" but He is not "our version" of the answer! Jesus IS the indisputable Word of God. He is not the bandage for the wound, He is the heart transplant! He is not a cliché Bible verse, He is the entirety of the Bible! Why am I pointing this out? Because mankind is disposed to think a couple Bible verses per day is enough. Because people too quickly think saying, "Jesus" with a 2-second "I'm sorry" is enough. I am not trying to be legalistic, but I am trying to point out that Jesus Himself said:
Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? [Matthew 26.40]
Devotion to God is just that: devotion. What does "devotion" mean? Let me simply summarize to answer with one word: time. And, that is precisely what we see in today's OYCB reading when the people stood for three house listening to the Word of God and then stood another three hours repenting and worshiping.
Our modern microwave-society way of thinking SHOULD NOT transfer over into our devotion to God! A three-minute Bible reading or three-minute prayer is a mockery to true "relationship with God."
Jesus did not die on the cross so we could ignore Him! Think about it! That is preposterous!
IN FACT, Jesus defined a life of devotion to Him as follows:
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24]
What part of "give up your own way..." sounds like giving God ten to fifteen minutes a day (or worse, "when its convenient")? Devotion to God is not "what we call it" but instead what God clearly defines it as in His Word!
Time is indeed our most precious commodity. Where we spend our time concretely establishes where our devotion lies.
Father, help us to understand the significance of time spent with You in a world gone out-of-control for time management.
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