Do you remember how your heart ached when you were dating your husband or wife, and you had to go a whole day without talking to them? Circumstances kept you from connecting and you couldn’t wait until the next day so you could spend time with them again.

Have you ever felt this way about your relationship with God?

Similarly, has there been “that” person who always brought out the best in you? You always felt better about life after spending time with them.

Does spending time with God make you feel the same way?

In recent columns, we’ve discussed the importance of regularly pursuing God. Yet day after day, you regret that you haven’t done anything except pray for a few minutes in bed. Then, just before drifting off to sleep, you again promise yourself (and God), “I’ll do better tomorrow.”

As believers, no matter how much we ignore it, we feel an ache, an undeniable longing, to get to know our awesome, wonderful God. Here’s the good news: As our heavenly Father, God wants to spend time with us too.

1 John 3:1 (ESV) confirms this:

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

Think about it: God – the Creator of all things – wants a relationship with us.

With you!

One of the easiest ways to spend time with God is to read the Bible. Perhaps this year, you resolved to read through the Bible in a year, but you’ve already fallen so far behind that you’ll never catch up.

What if you tried . . .

• Setting the timer to read your Bible for five minutes every day?
• When the timer goes off, mark the last verse you read so you know where to begin the next day.
• You could start with Psalms, Proverbs, Genesis (the first book of the Bible), or Matthew (the first book of the New Testament). Beginning with this manageable step might help you gradually increase your time in God’s Word.

I confess. There are days when I don’t take time to read the Bible and pray. Thankfully, God always draws me back. When I miss a day, I feel something missing in my spirit. I miss God’s presence, and I miss His power – both of which I’ve grown to need and appreciate. When I skip several days in a row, my family and friends can tell I haven’t spent time with God. They may not know exactly what’s causing me to act out of sorts, but I know:

I went too long without spending time with the One Who loves me most.

What about you?

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this post. (Your comment might also benefit others.)

• Can others tell when you haven’t been spending quality time with God?

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