I was in a conversation recently with a young man about regularly spending time with God. I am trying to help him establish a habit of focused time throughout the week when he can pray, think, and read the Bible.  When I was asking him about it, he said, “I just need to get motivated.”  We talked about that a little more but I didn’t want to push it too hard.  I didn’t want him to be motivated by guilt or trying to please me. Since then I have thought a lot about the idea of motivation, specifically what motivates me in my spiritual life. 

The internet, which we know is true in everything it says, defines MOTIVATION as “the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way.”  It is the “why” behind the “what”. 

The “why” behind the “what” has been important to me in most areas of my life. I don’t do many things simply because I am supposed to.  That kind of motivation doesn’t last long for me. That has probably frustrated more than one of my supervisors over the years. 

In thinking about how to help the young man I mentioned earlier, I decided to think through the motivation behind my habit of spending focused time with God.

Here is my motivation in one sentence: I am motivated to spend time with God throughout the week because I believe that He (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) is real and that what the Bible says about Him (even the parts I don’t understand) is true.

Here is a list of other things that motivate me, all of which grow out of  the sentence above and come from what I see in the Bible.

I am motivated to spend time with God because….

1. He is infinitely greater than everyone else in all of creation. Why wouldn’t I want to spend time with “The Greatest of All Time”?
2. Everything was created by Him and for Him. That includes me. I was created to spend time with Him and live for Him.
3. I want to fulfill the most important commandment, to love God and others. Since it is His command, I learn to live it best by being with Him.
4. He loved me through sending His Son to die on the cross for my sins. Even when I was being really rebellious, He allowed me to come back to Him.
5. Since I was made for Him, it is through my regular time with Him that I can know and live out my purpose in life.
6. I need Him. He is the only way to experience real joy and peace in life.
7. The best thing for the people around me (my wife, kids, friends, etc) is for me to have a close relationship with God. 
8. I simply enjoy being with Him.

I am sure I’m leaving something off that is “supposed” to be on the list. But, all of these things are true of me and I lean on different ones at different times as I wake up and spend time with God.

I hope you know that He loves you and would love to spend time with you!