We have things all around us every day telling us when to do things. Your alarm tells you when to get up. Your computer tells you when you have appointments. Your dryer’s buzzer tells you when the laundry is ready to be folded. Your microwave’s ding tells you when the food is ready to eat. Your phone tells you when it needs to be charged. Your car tells you when it needs gas, when it needs an oil change and when you’ve left the lights on. The green light tells you when to go. The red light tells you when to stop. Examples could go on and on. The point is that we exist with (and often cannot exist without) numerous items telling us when to do things, and we are usually very responsive to the messages these things send.
What’s even better than all of these “things” telling us when to do things is that God tells us when to do things, and it is to these messages that we must be responsive. Consider the following examples.
God tells you when to worship! In the New Testament, God commanded the church to worship on the first day of the week (1 Cor. 16:1-2; Acts 20:7). Are you responsive?
God tells you when to study His Word! Bible study is a command of God (2 Tim. 2:15; 2 Pet. 1:5-8; 3:18), and He commended to you those who “searched the Scriptures daily” (Acts 17:11). Are you responsive?
God tells you when to pray! Repeatedly Christians are urged to pray “without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17), “continuing steadfastly in” it (Rom. 12:12). Are you responsive?
God tells you when to teach the gospel! Taking the gospel to the lost world is a command of God (Mark 16:15), and He commended to you those who “daily…did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:42). Are you responsive?
God tells you when to encourage the brethren! God commands you to “exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today’” (Heb. 3:13). Are you responsive?
God tells you when to rejoice in your relationship with Him! The relationship you have with the Lord is unique and should never be taken for granted. He tells you to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil. 4:4). Are you responsive?
God tells you when to worry about tomorrow! “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things” (Matt. 6:34). Are you responsive?
How responsive are you to the messages of God?