Invest In it Every Day

Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. Exodus 26:18

Long before I went to treatment for my opioid addiction, I understood that I needed to go. I knew that my addiction was eventually going to destroy my life but still, I couldn’t stop. I knew I needed help, but I couldn’t simply walk away from my life for an entire month. I had to work. I had a family. I had responsibilities that required my presence. To simply pack up and go to treatment for a month just wasn’t possible. Somewhat ironically, all those time constraints – the ones that kept me from going to treatment – were eventually lost due to my addiction. My job? Gone. My wife and family? On the way out the door. Because I was unwilling to get sober, all those things that were most important to me were taken away.

Now, in recovery, I find that I must daily take time for the most important things in life. Daily, I must get up early to point my life at God. If I don’t, I just naturally drift back towards the life of following me. My relationship with God is the most important thing about me and so, I must treat it that way. When life gets busy, which it always does, it’s tempting to first cut out my time with God. That though, is the last thing I should eliminate from a busy schedule. The more stressed or stretched I am, the more I need God. Daily, I must invest in that relationship above all.

For me, this is the message of today’s passage. In it, Moses went up on the mountain for 40 days with God. Can you imagine? Who has time for that? For Moses though, his relationship with the father was his full-time job. That was the most important thing in his life, and it showed. I’m sure he had other stuff to do, but Moses understood that God came first and that if he failed to spend time on that relationship above all, then nothing else in his life would ever be in its proper place.

This is the lesson for us. Whether we grasp it or not, our relationship with God is the most important thing about us. Nothing can ever be in its proper place and our deepest needs will never be met, until we live in a proper relationship with God. We only find authentic life, joy, and peace when we seek it in the father. So, daily, we must invest in that relationship. Daily, we must find the time to read, pray, meditate, and listen. If we don’t, then all the pursuits on which we spend our time, will ultimately amount to nothing.