Guard Your Time With the Lord

“If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage." ~Deuteronomy 13:6-10

I know you are probably wondering what the passage above is doing in this blog.  I read chapter 13 of Deuteronomy this morning in my time with the Lord, and was struck by this command of the Lord.  The Israelites were to utterly destroy anyone or anything that enticed them away from the Lord.

I began to wonder how this passage might apply to my own life.  Did I guard my own time with the Lord as vigilantly as the Lord commanded the Israelites to do?  Do I immediately destroy every trace of the excuses that would distract me away from His presence?

This reminds me of a story told about John Wesley. He had been invited to spend an evening with Lord Byron, the most powerful man in England. It was a great honor to be invited, as people would wait months and months to get an audience with this man.  As soon as dinner was over, the preacher rose from his chair to leave. His host looked at him in surprise. “Don’t you know that men all over this country wish to gain an audience with me? Why are you leaving so soon?”

John Wesley's simple reply was this: "I don't mean to offend you sir, and feel very honored for this time together. But I have an appointment with the King of the universe now, and I dare not be tired and I dare not be late."

Are we this careful to guard our time with the Lord?

For some of us, the distraction or enticement doesn't come from the outside, but from within.  Our flesh can so easily get in the way. Do we guard our time with the Lord--from our flesh?

Corrie ten Boom said, “Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord, and keep it!”

There are so many distractions.  So many excuses.  So many reasons why we don't get around to spending time with Him.

We know in our hearts the value of spending time with God. We've seen it bear fruit in our own lives. Let us guard this time with a valiantly known to the knights of old.  May no one ever be able to entice us away from the Lord our God who gave His life to take us out of the house of bondage and into the land of freedom.