‘If only I had a better relationship with God.’ ‘If only I prayed more.’ ‘If only I had more time so I could read the Bible.’ Any of these sound familiar? We can often fall into the ‘if only’ trap when it comes to our spiritual life. But we don’t need to wait around for circumstances to change, or for God to suddenly step in, in order to grow spiritually. While God will help us, developing our spiritual lives is our responsibility. God won’t force Himself into our lives, we need to be seeking Him. ‘You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart’ (Jeremiah 29:13 NIV). Notice those words: ‘all your heart.’ Being successful in developing our relationship with God means a complete focus on Him and prioritising spending time with Him over other things in our lives. We need to stop saying ‘if only’ and start understanding that it’s ‘only if’ we put effort into developing our spiritual life that we’ll get anywhere. And it requires us to be disciplined. To make sure we’re setting aside the time to read the Bible and pray daily, to meet with other Christians and to be alone with just God, to cut out other distractions and to worship. This doesn’t mean we’re bringing back legalism, it just means we’re making sure that we’re doing things that feed our soul. That doesn’t mean we should feel guilty if we fall short. God doesn’t want a set amount of time; He wants us to seek Him with all of our heart so that we may find Him. He just wants us.

What now?
Have a think about how you spend your free time. Choose an activity (such as watching TV or posting on social media) and make a decision to give up a few minutes of that time to spend with God instead. Even if you only give up five minutes to start with, resolve to choose God over that thing.