“And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” Luke 8:12
He must have had a fancy watch when He lived on this earth in the form of a man. After all, He was Jesus Christ. Surely He didn’t have any ordinary watch. Probably the most expensive kind. With all the bells and whistles. With an alarm anyway. And a light to help Him see in the dark. Must have looked at His watch all the time. To stay on schedule. His schedule would have been jam packed. Calendar always full. Appointment book maxed out. Imagine His to-do list. That watch would have kept Him on track. On time. On schedule. Especially when it came time to spending time with His Father. God in heaven. He wouldn’t have wanted to be late for His daily appointments with Him. Not to mention He would have checked His watch a zillion times when He drew away from the crowds to spend time with God almighty to make sure He didn’t stay one second too long. So He wouldn’t be late for His next appointment. Or to the gym. He did work out at the gym, didn’t He? After He got His Starbucks coffee, presumably. Which goes back to the watch thing. Making sure He was careful to stick to His daily appointed time with God, not to get there nor leave a second late would have helped Him ensure he got His drive-thru coffee on time. Then, sometime during the rest of His extremely busy days surely the thought of God must have popped into His mind. Before He quickly pushed it away figuring He better get back to His busy day with the confidence He would give God His full attention the next day at their regularly scheduled appointment time. This is how Jesus lived, right?
This isn’t funny. It’s tragic. Devastating. Because Jesus NEVER squished His Father in heaven into a scheduled time daily with His eyes on His watch. He lived for God. He breathed for God. He was led by God. God was the essence of His life, His reason for being, His purpose. He spent time with His Father regularly and abundantly. Not confined, restricted, to little pockets of hurried time. His entire life was devoted to His Father. What’s devastating is this is exactly how some of us are living. Squeezing God into our calendars, if at all, watching our watches, then rushing back into our daily lives – without Him. Confident we’ll wait until our next appointment with God. Christ’s followers aren’t to just believe in Christ. We are to live for God. Love Him. Worship Him. Serve Him. Think about Him. Study His Word. Seek Him. Meditate on Him. And His Word. Praise Him. Enjoy Him. Talk about Him. Pray to Him. Be led by Him. Draw away from the crowds and spend time with Him regularly, and abundantly, but not restricting Him to those times. He should be the essence of our every moment, and all we do should be for His glory!