#45: Excuses aren't VALID

On episode 45, Tim explains why our excuses for not reading God's Word more isn't the reason why we aren't reading His Word more.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome into episode number forty five of Bring Heaven Down.
My name is Tim and I'm the host of this
daily devotional podcast that comes out Monday through Friday. Hit
that follow button or subscribe button wherever you are listening
so that this podcast will show up in your feed
Monday through Friday. And also rate and review the show

(00:23):
if you're willing, so that we can bring Jesus into
more people's lives than a rate and review gives this
podcast mark exposure. If you have any questions, email the
show Bring Heaven Down number seven at gmail dot com.
A comment, a question, a concern, a disagreement, Bring Heaven
Down seven at gmail dot com. All Right, today, I

(00:45):
want to talk about excuses and I want to share
a fun story that happened last week and in our
youth ministry. So grab your favorite drinker, a cup of coffee.
Let's bring it heaven a little closer together. All right,
So let me talk about this fun story last week.

(01:07):
I think it was enjoyable and I think you guys
will have a good time listening to it. So we
had our first summer event for our youth group last week,
and we're doing this thing called Fire and Faith where
we're having a bonfire, and then I'm sharing a five
to ten minute devotional, and then leaders and kids are
gathering and connecting with questions and community and things like that.

(01:32):
Games are played, all of that fun stuff. The night's
finishing up, and I've brought bottled water so that they
could have a drink, and the sixth grade girls decided
to play truth or Darren. Apparently, I will say allegedly,
one of the girls dared them to come up to

(01:54):
me and ask me if they could dump water on
my head, and trying to be relational and fun because
it is fun, I accepted the dare. I put my
head down. They put the water on my head, and
it was freezing cold. And then someone out of nowhere,

(02:15):
one of the girls, comes and throws a ton of
water at me, and it goes down my shirt and
down my pants, and I'm soaking wet, and then all
chaos breaks out. I'm dumping water on heads, They're dumping
water on my heads. An entire water fight is happening

(02:39):
outside of our church. And the girl that got me,
that started the whole thing, was looking the other direction,
trying to get someone else, and I come up behind her,
and I douse her with water, and a ton of
boys and girls are chasing me around the church trying

(02:59):
to get me soaked. And it was just a fun story.
It was a fun moment. So I thought I'd share
that with you for really no reason except for it
was fun. All right. Excuses, we all have excuses, And
you could go into a group, a church group, a
community group, anyone and say what is your number one

(03:24):
excuse for not reading the Bible more often? And common
answers you are going to hear are my phone, work, family,
my schedule, social media. I mean, you can go across

(03:46):
the line and there is always going to be something.
Excuses are everywhere, distractions are everywhere, And as I heard
people listening off the list of excuses, the number one
problem was not listed. And I believe this one. It's

(04:13):
not a phone. It's not the television, or social media
or my family that causes me to skip days or
weeks or months reading my Bible. It's me. I am

(04:35):
the sole reason why I don't read my Bible more
because I do not prioritize it enough. If you asked
someone did you check your phone today? The answer is
always going to be yes, because they prioritize their phone,

(04:58):
and and it really boils down to how much we
prioritize things. I'm guessing that you find time for the
things that you love the most. If you love to golf,
you probably find time to golf. If you love to

(05:21):
play pick a ball, you probably find time to play pickaball.
And the point that I'm making is that there are excuses,
and there are distractions, and they are legitimate distractions. But
my point is that what causes me to prioritize those

(05:44):
distractions more than the Bible itself, more than God's word itself,
is me. The root of the issue is not the
distraction itself. The root of the issue is me priority tithing,
the distraction over God's word. Matthew chapter six, verse thirty

(06:05):
three says this, but seek first the Kingdom of God
and his righteousness, and all these things will be added
to you. So I'm sure that there are things that
distract you. There are things that distract me. But the
core issue of me not reading my Bible more often

(06:30):
than I should is me because I am not prioritizing
it more than the distractions. I am not getting up
fifteen minutes before my kids wake up to dive into
God's word. But I'm waiting for them to wake me up.
And then the day has started and the distractions are

(06:53):
beginning and chaos is everywhere. So I just want you
to think about that, something to think about, something to
allow the Holy Spirit to work in your heart, because
maybe you've had that thought I don't have time for
God's word. I don't have time for the Bible because
of my phone or whatever else it may be. But

(07:18):
remember I'm the problem personally me. I'm talking about myself.
When people ask me why I don't read God's word more,
my answer is not my phone or social media or television.
It's me. I am not prioritizing God's word enough anyway.

(07:44):
Just something to get you to think. So thank you
for choosing Jesus today, and I hope the Lord stirs
something in your heart. I hope everyone has a good day,
and thank you for going on this podcast in journey
with Us, where our goal is to bring Heaven down