Dear friends in Christ,
Jesus famously said, “For where you treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:25). The meaning is clear. We can lead our hearts with our treasure.
If you want to be more generous, give away some money! If you want to be compassionate, spend your money compassionately. If you want to be Christ-centered, make sure your gifts to support God’s work are the first item in your budget.
Jesus didn’t say this, but I like to imagine he would have added, “And where your time is, there your heart will be also.” In countless conversations with people, one theme I hear regularly is that lots of us feel like there’s not enough time. Sometimes I feel this way myself. As a society, we don’t sleep enough. We don’t play enough. We tend toward frazzled.
I’ve heard more than one person say, “I wish I had more time to pray.” Maybe I’ve uttered those words myself. One great blessing of my Medical Melodrama of 2022 is that I got my prayer life in order, better than it’s been my whole life. Now morning AND evening prayer are baked into my routine. Every day. And you know what? It’s changed me. It’s not that my problems have gone away, but when I’m anchored in prayer, I am more patient, more attentive, more joyful. (And, to be clear, I still have a LOT of room for improvement on all fronts!)
What about you? How is your calendar? If Jesus looked over your shoulder at your schedule for the week, could he tell that you follow him?
I don’t have answers here. But I can tell you that I see in my own life the difference between those times I orient my days as a disciple and those times I orient my days as someone who’s stuck on the hamster wheel of the consumer lifestyle. I don’t have it figured out yet, but the patterns are clear.
Treating each day is a gift is definitely the way to go. Spending time in prayer is well worth it—it pulls our hearts closer to God. Time nurturing friendships is a delight.
If it helps, Forward Movement has some podcasts that can help you find time for prayer even on the go. And you might like to start or end your day with a devotion. There are lots of folks providing excellent materials for us when we want to lead our hearts.
Yours faithfully,
Scott Gunn
Executive Director
More from our ministry:
On sale now: Preparing the Way: Christian Practices for Advent
A beautiful, compact edition of the Daily Office: Hour by Hour
Wealth, poverty, and Christian community: The Unjust Steward
Shake up your devotional routine: Devotions for People who Don’t Do Devotions