Give it All You’ve Got

Someone once said, “If you want to make good use of your time, you’ve got to know what’s most important and then give it all you’ve got.”

These past few months of COVID quarantine have been odd. Like so many others, I started looking for ways to fill my time. I took up a few hobbies like painting, tennis, and guitar, spent hours on Houseparty, and watched a little too much Netflix.

One night, while I was praying, I felt God telling me that I needed to be doing more with my time. He had blessed me with this time of peace, and I had so much opportunity to use this time to press into Him and His Word.

I’ve always had two areas in my life that I knew I needed to improve in: waking up early and reading my Bible. I knew that God was calling me to improve in these areas of my life.

When asked the question, “Are you a night owl or an early bird?” my automatic response is always a night owl. Before this year, I don’t know the last time I’d seen a sunrise.

As for the Bible, growing up, I had a hard time understanding the Bible, so I fell into the habit of only reading small portions of it or reading books that I understood. I always figured that as long as I kept up my prayer life, that would be enough to support my relationship with Christ. And while I maintained it, I didn’t nurture my prayer life wasn’t way that it should be.

Joshua 1:8 says, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

I wasn’t exactly meditating on it day and night.

So, over the next few weeks, I started getting up early. Like 5 AM early. I would grab my Bible and notebook, drive to a park, sit in the trunk of my car, and spend at least an hour in the Word. At first, it took discipline. There were mornings when all I wanted to do was hit snooze, but I didn’t because God was faithful in giving me strength. I knew that sacrificing my sleep to spend time with the Lord was an act of humility, so I persisted.

Over the past few months of keeping up this routine, I’ve seen blessing upon blessing because of my time spent in His Word. With a better knowledge of scripture, I have been a better friend by giving people advice based on God’s Word and not just of my understanding. I’ve seen that since I have become rooted in the Word, the Joy of the Lord comes to me so freely.

God gave us His Word for many reasons.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

By reading the Bible consistently, you can find direction for your life and learn how to serve best the Lord who gave His life for you. Christ knows every little thing about each of us, and He has given us the incredible opportunity to know Him as well.

Thanks to the blessing of quarantine, I can now say that I genuinely love reading my Bible, and waking up early might be starting to grow on me. I strongly encourage you to learn from my experience. Maybe you don’t need to get up at 5 AM, but in what ways can you work to make scripture reading a part of your routine? Are there things you need to sacrifice to make room for Christ? Although not always easy, I can say without a doubt that it’s worth it.

Editor’s Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official views of TeenPact Leadership Schools. To learn more about our Vision & Values, please visit teenpact.com/vision-values/.