Take time

Take time to be holy, speak oft with the Lord;

Abide in Him always and feed on His Word.

Make friends of God's children, help those who are weak,

Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.

Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;

Spend much time in secret with Jesus alone.

By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;

Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.

Take time to be holy, let Him be they guide,

And run not before Him, whatever betide.

In joy or in sorrow still follow thy Lord,

And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.

Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul--

Each thought and each motive beneath His control.

Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,

Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.

You know, the American life promotes speed.  We want faster cars, higher speed limits, instant food, and shorter meetings.  We multi-task a lot and try to cram in as much as possible through the week.  Although this life-style allows us to experience a lot of variety, we don't get enough of anything.  Everything happens so quickly that we don't really get to know people, become skilled in our talents, or appreciate and enjoy life as fully as we could otherwise.

Consequently, we skip over our Spiritual needs.  The days are so full and stressful that we have little or no time to just be in God's presence.  We do whatever we have to in order to "get by."  Is this what God wants from us?  Is this why He died?  I am ashamed to say that I am no better.  I easily become consumed with life, schedules, and to-do lists that time in God's presence doesn't get the priority.

However, Take Time to be Holy suggests a different way.  I love the sort of progression in this hymn. First, we are to speak with Him often and spend regular time eating up His Word.  Having like-minded friends and helping the weak also encourages us to be accountable and to live a life that is consistent.  Second, we are responsible to cut regular time out of ordinarily busy days to learn more of becoming Christ-like.  Third, there is a warning to not be too anxious.  Even in our spiritual lives we want speed.  We want our prayers to be answered quickly, we want to have patience now, and we want everything to be easy immediately.  But God doesn't work on our time.  Finally, there is a calling to live it out.  Being a Christian doesn't just mean reading the Bible and praying.  It's practicing that life every day and growing on that solid foundation.
So it's ok to not commit to everything.  It's ok to cut things out...as long as it's not the Word and it's influence on our lives.