always first

It's a good thing that God is nocturnal (or I'm assuming that He is) because I always seem to "get around" to time with Him in the wee hours of the morning. As is the case now, at 2:30 am. My roommate (who is awesome and incredible, and I couldn't ask for a better one) and I decided to hold each other accountable for this Lent promise we've made, and today she showed me a section of her devotional book that really spoke to what we are committing to do. The key verse for the chapter is out of Matthew 10 and is about taking up our cross and following Christ. The author of the devotional (Purity for Young Women) writes: "If we are to trust Christ, we must trust Him and place Him at the very center of our beings. Jesus never comes 'next.' He is always first."

It hits me now how true that is. I am looking back and realizing how much stuff I put before God today so that my time with Him has been pushed back until late late at night. I got all of my homework out of the way before I got to spend time with Him. How incredibly backwards is that? I yearn for the desire to really want to spend time with the Lord every single day of my life, but I so often find myself wanting other things more. I find myself "too busy" all the time, whether that's actually being productive or whether that's wasting my life away on Facebook. A quote that the author gives in the devotional speaks to this exactly:

"Make a plan now to keep a daily appointment with God. The enemy is going to tell you to set it aside, but you must carve out the time. If you're too busy to meet with the Lord, friend, then you are simply too busy."
- Charles Swindoll