Dehydrated

Ever been dehydrated? I have. I'm prone to it - not because I need more water than the average person, but because I often don't drink enough. I get all the typical warning signs: chapped lips, headache, pastey mouth. It's easy to fix - just drink some water. Most of the symptoms go away almost instantaneously. It's easy to keep well hydrated too - just sip water throughout the day. Keep it on hand and drink it.

My spirit is the same way. If I don't get a drink of God throughout the day, I can start to see the warning signs of spiritual dehydration: I'm irritable, prideful, judgemental, discontent, lazy and fearful - amongst other things. I've been noticing it in myself lately. As the holiday's draw closer and the heat is on with extra long to-do lists, I've allowed my daily time with God to dwindle to nothing. I'm not drinking deep of Godps promises, love, comfort and strength. I'm not meditating on the Gospel. I'm not remembering that I need a savior. And when that happens...well, my sin starts to have it's say in my life. It comes out my mouth. It shows in my actions. It grows in my heart.

This is why, when I start to notice patterns of sin in my life, The first question I ask myself (but not the last) is "how have my quiet times been lately?" Usually if a sin is spirialing out of control, it's a symptom of having not been communing with God regularly. If I were communing with God regularly - "sipping throughout the day", or at least having a big glass in the morning - these things don't have such a stronghold on me. I don't mean to say that reading the Bible or praying automatically makes us immune to our sins. However, if we're reading the Bible and praying regularly we've got the word of God in our minds and hearts more deeply and consistantly. That is what makes the difference in our lives. It has nothing to do with "having a quiet time". It has everything to do with keeping the promises of God and the knowledge of his gospel close at hand - like a water bottle. When our heart is well hydrated with these things, we don't see as many symptoms of spiritual dehydration as we would whey they're absent.

So, how have your quiet times been lately?