SeanDareOnline.com

I have been struggling to have my quiet time the past two weeks and I feel empty because of it. This morning on my way to work I wondered what it is about missing quiet time that causes me to feel so empty. I think I know the answer, at least for me.

When I miss quiet time it is usually because I am too busy. I end up staying up late the night before, and when my alarm goes off the next morning, I hit the snooze instead of meeting with the Lord. I don’t have time to read my Bible or pray during the day because of work and other commitments so I end up skipping a day. One day leads to two, then three, then a week, and so on. Before you know it my daily intake of scripture has disappeared.

I don’t stop watching TV, or surfing the web, or listening to the radio when I stop reading the Bible so my secular mental intake stays the same. When this happens my spiritual life gets out of balance. Too much of the world starts to invade my mind and there is no scripture to combat it. What ends up happening is my mind becomes focused on the things the world tells me are important. I begin to worry about getting a new car, or having the perfect sex life, or getting more money, or getting a better job, etc. None of this should be my focus. Christ should be my focus. Jesus even speaks to this in one of my favorite passages. Matthew 6:35-34 which reads:

25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (NIV)

If I am not getting a regular intake of his word then how can I expect to keep my focus in the right place? What I need is a diet for the mind. I need to limit the things that are bad for me, TV, internet, radio, etc, and increase my intake of things that are good for me, scripture and prayer.

When you are physically dieting you limit the amount of food you eat that is high in sugar, cholesterol, fat, carbohydrates, etc., but you are allowed to eat as many vegtables as you want because they are so good for you. My proposed diet of the mind follows the same principles. I can still watch TV or surf the web, but I must limit these activities in proportion to the rest of my mental consumption. Whereas I can consume as much scripture and prayer as I want because it is always good for me. My goal is to cut out the sugar and fat from my mental diet and increase the veggies. In this way I can keep my minds focus on what is important.

I’m not saying this will be easy, diets are tough, but this goal is not suggested in scripture, it is commanded. If I want to walk closer with Christ then I need to change my mind’s eating habits. I urge you to do the same. I will bet that if you dedicate time to reading the Bible and praying every day you will feel a difference in the depths of your soul. Try it, if it doesn’t work you can always go back to what you are doing now.

So that begs the question. What items do you need to limit in your mental diet?

- Sean