Week 01 – Spend time with the Master
Key memory verse -
John 15: 5 – I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me, he will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing.
This verse speaks very clearly. If we continue to stay close to him, listen and act on His will and His call, we will be fruitful. Note the second part – we can do NOTHING if we are not close to Him. There is no bargain; if we want to have a fruitful and meaningful life, our closeness with Him is vital.
Reflections -
As I work on Week One of the Disciple’s Cross, I am confronted with this question – How do I spend time with my Master? I am so busy with work; I don’t even have time for my family members. By the time I get home, I am just ready to knock off (meaning, sleep). Sigh…
And then I realised, in the midst of busy-ness, I could spend time with Him in many ways.
As I wait to send my daughter to school, and ourselves (Molly and I) to work, I could deliberately get to and into my car about ten minutes earlier… why? So, that I could listen and pray to our God through songs of praise and worship while inside the car. As we drive along on the way, we could continue to listen to those songs and quietly worship the Lord. Certainly a very effective means of drawing ourselves close to the Lord at the start of the day.
I am in the office, at least half an hour before I start work. In that span of time, I could spend about fifteen minutes to read and meditate on the Word of God.
As I jog in the night, and I jog at about 10pm, I could have mp3 player. For the twenty-minute jog, I could be listening to songs of worship and thanking him for the day. At the close of the jog, while walking and resting to recover from the fast pace, I could be listening intently and worshipping Him. I jog about two or three times a week.
Yes, we do have different ways to worship and glorify our Lord. What matters most of all is the focus to have Him first in our life. Let us all learn to spend time with our Master.
Click on the following for the summaries of the 5-day studies –
Day 02 – Under Christ’s control
Day 03 – Connected to the Vine
Day 05 – Challenges to obedience
