TODAY’S SIGNATURE VERSE ••• The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. (2 Corinthians 9:6 ESV)
PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• I’ve put off shopping at Costco for several days simply because I dreaded wearing a mask to shop and ugh — loading and unloading the car in July. North Carolina temperatures have been miserably hot. (I’m not complaining! I’ll take the heat over snow!) But late afternoon yesterday, I sucked it up and got it over with. I think I bought enough to get us through the rest of summer, so I don’t need to go again anytime soon.
You see, this trip was based on preparation. Wayne and I recently bought a second refrigerator for our garage, and I’m going to stock the freezer with pre-prepped meals. I call it investment cooking, and it’s a DIY version of Dream Dinners. I used to do this when we had a deep freezer… but that died about five years ago and inconveniently enough, on the weekend when I spent over $400 in groceries for investment cooking. Insert facepalm here.
Investment cooking costs a lot on the front end—both in money and time—but the goal is to save money and have more reason to eat at home. When you don’t feel like cooking, it’s harder to use the excuse for takeout when meals are prepped and ready to be heated.
Making the investment of time is hard though. That’s often the excuse we have for why we don’t spend more time in God’s Word, why we don’t pray or do Bible studies. We act like these are monumental investments of our day when they really aren’t. Some of my friends grow concerned when I encourage them to carve out the time, because they think that means their mornings will look like mine… I spend about two hours every morning between reading, prayer journaling, and writing. But that’s me. And I’m weird. (Wink, wink.)
Taking 15 minutes to read from the Bible every day isn’t going to suck up anyone’s day! While it’s tremendously important to carve out dedicated prayer time, prayer can be done anywhere—in the shower, while getting ready, while cooking a meal… Prayer can be brought into every aspect of our lives! As far as Bible studies go, you get out of it what you put into it. I admit I don’t like to do those workbook-style studies. But not all Bible studies include that… in the time it takes to watch a sitcom, you can get a lot out of a Bible study.
2 Corinthians 9:6 says, “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” Paul wrote this to the Corinthians about giving, but the same truth applies to our spiritual growth. If you don’t invest the time, you won’t grow. But if you do, you will reap bountifully in your relationship with God.
So commit to making the investment of time. Time is never better spent than when it’s spent with God.
Today, as you pray, thank God for His eagerness for us to know Him. Thank Him for His Word. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you be diligent in your daily walk, and stir in you an eagerness to read God’s Word, study it, and spend time with Him in prayer.
SHARING ••• My Grace-Full Life is written by Denise Heidel. You are welcome to share anything I write, but please credit my writing and graphics accordingly. Visit www.MyGraceFullLife.com to read past blogs. Subscribe through my website to have My Grace-Full Life delivered to your email. You can unsubscribe at any time. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the ESV translation.
