This month, our Gospel readings from the book of Luke center around Jesus’ teaching in chapters 12 and 13, and this teaching of Jesus really focuses on one core topic: our priorities. He encourages us to be aware of what we consider to be most important in our lives, and reminds us that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Pastor Treglown in his article mentions that how we spend our time is just as indicative of where our hearts are—where your time is, there will your heart be also. There are things in our lives we spend lots of time on, and those things are important to us; there are things in our lives that we spend little time on, and those things are far less important to us. Today I want to talk about some practical things we can do to help us to spend our time focused on Jesus:

Worship and Bible Study: This is an easy place to start. Here at Faith we offer weekly worship at 5:00 on Saturday afternoons and 8:00, 9:15, and 11:00 on Sunday mornings (as well as a livestream on our website Sunday mornings); we have a Sunday morning Bible study from 10:15–10:50, a Men’s Bible Study Wednesday mornings at 8:00, and a Women’s Bible Study Friday mornings at 10:00. If going to worship and Bible Study regularly aren’t already part of your weekly routine, adding them is a great way to put your time in the right place so that your heart can be in the right place. 

Prayer: It’s hard to overstate how important it is to spend your time praying! If you’re looking for practical ways to spend more of your time praying, try to find regular times in your schedule to pray—maybe right when you wake up, or right before bed, or right after a meal. Or maybe you want to set an alarm on your phone to go off every day at a certain time to remind yourself to pray. All of these are good ways to start to spend time doing one of the most important things we can do as Christians: talk to our heavenly Father.

Private Devotion: While gathering together with other Christians to study God’s word is valuable, so too studying God’s word on your own is valuable. I know some (including myself) who have benefited from using some sort of Bible reading schedule (you can find all sorts of good ones on the internet). I know others who like to use resources like Portals of Prayer or some other devotional material (we offer many of these here at Faith). Whatever you choose, trying to find a regular time (like with prayer) can help you to make sure that this becomes part of your regular schedule.

Service: Just as it is important to immerse ourselves in God’s word and to receive all the blessings he offers, so too it’s also important to share the blessings he has given us with others! This can look different for different people—maybe you feel called to serve others through working through some sort of charitable organization. Or maybe you serve by joining a board or volunteer group here at Faith. Look around in your life and see where you already are and what opportunities you already have to get ideas for how you can share the gift of time you have been given with others.

Where your time is, there will your heart be also. Blessings to all of you this summer as we rejoice in the gift of time that our God has given us.

-Pastor Duncan