Quiet Time and Football

So it is almost fall which means… football season!  Here in Texas, football season is a big deal. I love sports, it really doesn’t matter which sport I just love to watch true athleticism. I do have my favorite teams: Dallas Mavericks, Texas Rangers, Dallas Cowboys, and anything Aggie related (can you tell I am a Texan?!?) I follow stats, I watch the games and I love to talk sports. Great, so I like sports, so what?

Recently I have had a hard time making time for my quiet time with God. I follow the same routine every single day. I get up between 5:30 and 5:45am and have my quiet time before I have to get ready for work. The past week I haven’t been feeling 100%  so I have had a hard time getting up and getting started. In fact out of the past eight days, I have only done my Bible study at my normal time twice. The other days I would try to get to my quiet time later in the day after work, but it was rushed and I didn’t give it all of my attention. I would then go about my normal activities for the day, making dinner and going for a walk.

Sunday morning I spoke with one of my team members about the issues I have been having with time management. She told me to take inventory of my time throughout the next week. It didn't take an entire week for me to figure out the problem. Yesterday I had an epiphany. I love sports, so when I cook I have the radio on listening to music or whatever game is on. (I choose not to have television in my home.) Yesterday I was making dinner and listening to the rangers game (The Rangers were playing the Yankees) while following the Cowboys game online. I made time for TWO sporting events, but I couldn’t make time to sit with my Bible and talk with God. Let me tell you, the realization of my choice stung a bit.

1 Timothy 4:8 says, “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come”. I enjoy sports, and I enjoy the atmosphere that comes with them. But shouldn’t my greater concern be spending time with my savior? I am not saying that sports are a bad thing! I am saying that I have had to reevaluate my priorities and get back on track. Today, I purchased a book-on-CD Bible and put it on my iPod. I listened to my reading for the day while I was cooking dinner instead of listening to a radio station. I read my Bible and wrote in my journal this evening rather than playing on facebook, twitter, or pinterest. My quiet time with God, has to come first because nothing else really matters.