Fresh Start Daily

Morning devotion: 1 Timothy 4:1-11

Like other believers, I don’t always feel motivated to pray earnestly or read the Bible. Some days are harder than the others. I get it. I feel sad though when I don’t get to read the Bible even when I don’t feel motivated. However, I learned that no matter what our circumstance is, we have to SHOW UP.

We’re not always going to have some deep revelations from our reading and that’s okay. When I don’t feel like reading the Bible, I still read the Bible. I read even just a few verses. When I wake up in the morning, I do my quiet time before doing anything else. Today, I wasn’t motivated to read because I got excited by a new project. I wanted to focus on that but God convicted my heart. When we don’t pray, it’s like we’re saying “God, I got this. I can do this on my own. I don’t need You to help me.”

I am now on 1st Timothy chapter 4 in my chronological reading. Of all the things I read, verse 7 stood out to me. In that verse, it says that we should exercise toward godliness. It means that we are not godly by nature. Our heart, by nature, is inclined to run from God instead of to God. We are inclined to do what’s easy and comfortable which often does not please the Lord.

Being godly involves discipline. It’s hard work and it’s not always fun. Imagine an athlete training for a big competition. He denies himself of junk food, late-night tv shows, parties, etc. He has to eat nutritious food (which is more of than not, bland in taste), get enough sleep and exercise. He has to keep his body strong and healthy to be ready to compete and win.

It’s similar with our faith. We become godly by exercising spiritually. I know it’s hard with all the distractions especially now that we’re in a quarantine. We have more time to spend on the internet. It’s also a struggle for me lately because it consumes a lot of my time. I know I should be spending it on something productive. As much as possible, I only connect to the internet on my phone when I have to. I don’t want to be online 24/7. There are things we have to deny ourselves of to draw closer to God.

“For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” – 1 Timothy 4:8

It’s hard work but the joy is incomparable to anything in this world. All the fun in this world pales in comparison to the joy that the Lord gives.

“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.” – 2 Timothy 2:3-5

“Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.”

I woke up around 5 a.m. today and before going back to sleep (I usually wake up around 8 or 9 because I work mid-shift.), I decided to read the Bible first. I read my Bible every morning and I do it chronologically. (I am currently in the book of Galatians.) I know that flipping randomly to scriptures is not recommended but… I admit I do that sometimes. And I did it today.

I read from the book of Ecclesiastes. What stuck with me is chapter 5 verse 1. It says in the first part that we should “draw near to hear”. When we come to God, often we position ourselves to be heard by Him. We present our requests and whatnot. We seldom come to Him to listen.

Every time I ask God to speak to me, I am always awestruck. I read exactly what I need when I need it. Listening to God, and not just hearing Him, can be a challenge because of all the distractions–external and internal. Sometimes the loudest noise is not from our surroundings but from our heart and mind. We need to quiet down our heart and mind to really listen to Him.

The second part of verse 1 is about giving a sacrifice to God. It’s called “sacrifice of fools” because the people “do not know that they do evil”. I thought of a verse that has a similar message:

“Samuel said, ‘Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.’” 1 Samuel 15:22

God wants our heart more than anything we can give Him because really, there is nothing we can give that God doesn’t own. Everything good that we have is given by Him. He cares more about our heart posture than our performance. He sees behind our actions. He delights more in our obedience than our sacrifice.

When I pondered on it, it dawned on me how the phrases in that verse are related. Before we can obey Him, we have to draw near to Him first so we will know what He wants us to do. We cannot obey what we didn’t receive/hear.

Wow! So much revelation in just one verse! And we have the entire Bible to learn from and revel in. God’s Word is indeed living and active.