As the world grows ever darker, the light of Christ must shine ever brighter from within us. The news and culture will weigh on us heavily and make it seem as if they might smother us. These days, I find myself driven deeper into God’s Word and having an irresistible desire to spend more and more time with Him. We need to constantly saturate our lives with God and His Word.
We need to flush out the things that are not of God until all we have left is Him. When we fill our minds, ears, eyes, and mouth with His praise, the suffocating pressures of this world will become light afflictions we can bear in the strength of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:17).
The more you saturate your life with Christ, the more you will desire Him. In these dark days, Jesus has become my obsession. You could say He should have always been my obsession, and you’d be right. Realizing how many years I’ve let slip away without devoting every second to Him is a source of constant pain for me. None of us gets this right all the time, but those who truly know Christ are continually striving to know Him better. A love of Christ results in a life lived for Him.
If you desire to saturate your life with Jesus, I have a few suggestions to share. These habits are helpful to me. You don’t have to replicate them all, but perhaps some will be useful to you as well. First, and to no one’s surprise, you must regularly read your Bible. By regularly, I mean every day. There is no substitute for understanding who God is and what His holiness demands of our lives. The more you read, the more you will want to read. When you sit down to read, pause and ask the Lord to reveal His character to you in what you read. There are numerous Bible reading plans available. Pick one and pick a time you will read. For me, the first thing I do every morning is to read the Bible.
The next thing I do is spend time in prayer. If prayer is difficult for you, start small. The more you develop the habit of prayer, the longer and more passionately you will pray. By the time I’m done praying, I have no choice but to sit in awe of God and bask in His presence. You have the privilege of being able to talk directly with the Creator God. Why would you ever want to skip that opportunity? Seriously, what is it you consider more important?
When I reluctantly finish my time in the Word and in prayer, I continue to saturate my ears and mind with God’s glory. I listen to solid expositional (verse by verse) preaching while getting ready for the day and as long into the day as I can before I have to work. Once at work, as you have the opportunity, listen to music that honors God. Pay careful attention to the lyrics of what you listen to. Much of what the industry labels “Christian” music these days has a self-centered message (or no message at all!). Be careful who and what you listen to. It should be all about God, not about you. Sneak in some more good preaching over lunch.
Finally, saturate your mind with uplifting material when the day is done. This is a significant challenge. So much of what passes for entertainment is poisonous to your mind. Don’t ingest programming that glorifies the immorality of this world. Seek movies and shows that are encouraging and lift the name of Jesus. It won’t be easy to find, but what you watch before bed will feed your subconscious until you wake.
Old habits are hard to break, but if we want to live for God, to live in a manner worthy of the sacrifice of His Son, we must saturate our lives with His goodness and glory. When we do, we will shine as lights in the darkness. A saturated life is a life God can use in mighty ways for His Kingdom. The closer you draw to Christ, you will develop an insatiable desire to grow closer still. You can never and will never get enough of Jesus. He is too awesome to comprehend and too good to imagine. Saturate your life with God and discover life as He meant it to be. He will lift you out of the darkness and into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).