by Pastor Ryan Cooper

“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”  Mark 1:35

Recently, the subject of quiet times, devotions, and daily time with Jesus has come up in several discussions. For most of us who have been walking with Jesus for a while, this time usually consists of some reading, praying, and writing.

But what happens when it begins to feel like routine? What happens when our quiet time is filled with distracted thinking, disjointed concentration, and general frustration?

Let’s think about our relationships for a moment. Whether you are married, dating or single; whether you have kids or grandkids; whether you are close to your neighbors; or whether you desire to get to know some new people; the fact remains that you must interact with people in relationship every single day.

Now, COVID gave many an excuse to deliberately reduce their connection with people out of fear, which is sad. They traded the ‘safety’ of their own physical health over the health of relationships, while Jesus is out there touching lepers, but I digress.

Now, imagine if you chose to spend time with people in exactly the same way every time. For example, when you wanted to take your wife on a date, you always ate at Applebee’s. Or when you and your friends hang out, you get ice cream from Dairy Queen every single time. Or when you spend time with your kids, you only play patty-cake, every…single…time…

No person on the planet would be satisfied with a one-dimensional relationship like this.

No one!

The reason?  Relationships aren’t robots.

But we want our relationships to be manageable don’t we? We want to be able to control them to get what we want.

Yeah, me too!

We want God to serve us. And when we do that, we end up deceiving ourselves, selling God short, and creating another god in our own image.

Yep, that’s me also!

That’s called idolatry.

So, there we are in our easy chairs, at the same time of day, reading the same amount in the same way, saying the same prayers, having the same one-way monologue, and feeling disconnected. It’s no wonder we feel that way.

It’s because we ARE disconnected. When we turn our relationship with God into automatized signals, we become the robots.

We end up going through the movements to complete a task rather than pursue a relationship.

And relationships are alive!

Personal Reflection

In what ways can you liven up your time with Jesus?