My Daily Bread (Day 49) – Seeking God

⁶ Seek the LORD while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.

Isaiah 55:6 [NKJV]

Okay, technically, I know that it is still the same day that I am posting another daily bread entry. But I have a very good reason for why I am doing this entry now (at 10.46pm). After spending these two days setting up the MacBook in preparation for remote work (starting tomorrow), I’ve come to realise that I might not actually have the time in the morning to do my daily bread entries anymore. At least, you know, I don’t really want to feel like I am rushing through it, or simply going through the motion. If I am to do this, I want it to be as genuine and real as I can be. And I want to be able to take my time with my daily devotions. Also, I considered the alternative of doing my daily bread entries at the end of the day (in the evenings), but that would then defeat the purpose of putting God first in my life. To me, the whole idea of putting God first means putting Him before everything else that I want, or my own comfort or convenience.

Every Sunday to Friday Night

With my decision to go back to school part-time in July (it will last for a year), it would mean that I will be spending Thursdays at school. And that also means that I will need to do a make up for work on Saturday. So, when you consider everything, this means that from now on, I will be spending my Sunday nights, all the way to Friday nights, writing my daily devotionals for the following day. Another reason why I am feeling really adamant about doing it this way is because I’ve been reminded of that period in my life when I was fully dedicated to doing this daily bread entries and I could see my entire life turn around. More than that, that period of my life turned out to be some of my best years too. I was basically at my best. So, I hope to replicate that and keep it going for the rest of my life.

Ofcourse, I don’t have to remind you about Matthew 6:33. I know that when I put God first in my life (every single day), I know that He will also take care of me (and everything that I need).

Don’t Make Excuses For Yourself

That is probably the intended lesson for today’s daily bread entry – don’t make excuses for yourself. It is also a reminder for myself. In a situation like this, it is always easy to find excuses and reasons why I can’t do the daily bread first thing at the start of the day. I could find all the reasons to justify doing it in the evenings at the end of every work day too. But I’m not going to do that. So I’m going to remain committed to this. One of the reasons why I back-slided away from God for over two years is because I started by making excuses and finding justifications for not praying or reading the Bible. Those excuses and justifications eventually took me away from God, and we can see how my past two years turned out. It was a disaster of epic proportions. Now, I am aware. Making excuses to avoid our daily priorities can be a very slippery slope. We might be able to convince ourselves that we are only going to do it for one day, a few days, a week. But God knows that once we start making those excuses, we will never stop. So it is better to just prevent it altogether.

Personal Prayer for Today

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank You for helping me to be more self-aware over the last few years. Thanks to that self-awareness, today I am much better at catching myself when I know I’m about to start making excuses, or resorting to self-justification.

Thank You for giving me the ability to be adaptable and to do this daily bread entries at around midnight instead of at the end of the day of hard work. Perhaps this is just my way of trying to put You first in my daily life. I know that there will be days when I come home at night and I would be so tired that I want to sleep early. But this is why I need Your grace and strength. I want to have the discipline to keep doing this every week, from Sunday to Friday nights (right before the start of each brand new day).

I pray and ask that You will continue to guide me each and everyday. I ask that You will give me good rest & quality sleep every night so that I can perform at work during the day.

I vow to give You all of the praise and all the glory. In Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen.