The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

Psalm 19:1-4a, 7-14 ESV

The Christian walk can often feel demanding. You may feel there are many levels of competencies you need to achieve. Level one is “Thou should attend Sunday service and mid-week small groups”, level two is “Thou must regularly pray and read the Bible”, and so on. Naturally, one of the most common complaints among Christians is “How do I find time to do all these?” While I agree that this is often difficult, I think the first question to address is “Why should I find time to do this?”

To answer this, there are many places in the Bible we can go to, but allow me to start by making two observations from Psalm 19.

1. God is our glorious creator.
   In Psalm 19:1-4, the author tells us that the whole world is God’s handiwork, and what he created bears testament to it. Do not just take the author’s word for it, look around the creation; they speak up and “their voice goes out through all the earth” (Psalm 19:4).
   By observing the creation, it should be clear that God is our glorious creator.
   It, therefore, makes sense to make time for our creator and listen to what he says.

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2. What God says is not just right but is really good for us.
   It is essential in developing a relationship with him.
   While one can reasonably conclude that there is a creator God by observing nature, it does not automatically make one a Christian.
   In the second half of this Psalm, the author addresses our creator as Lord. The language here does not speak of someone obeying out of fear and trepidation, but rather one that understands that a good God can indeed give us instructions that are good for us.
   The Lord reveals to us what he likes and dislikes through his words which are recorded in the Bible.
   We may think of the law in our justice systems as cold, inflexible, even unjust at times. However, we are told here that when what is right and wrong comes from a just, righteous, loving God, it is more desirable than fine gold and sweeter than honey (Psalm 19:7-10).
   How can one have a relationship with God?
   One can only have a relationship with him, that is, be able to call him Lord, by knowing him.
   Therefore, it pays to set aside time to listen to him. 

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I hope you can see that to find time to sit under Jesus’ feet and listen to what he teaches us in the Bible is by no means a tick-box exercise. By allowing our hearts to be transformed by God’s words, I hope you can echo with me the Psalmist’s prayer (Psalm 19:14):

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer .

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It is indeed a joyous and transformative process, which also requires discipline and hard work.

In my next article, I will talk more about how we find time for God.