Be a Party Animal

Quiet time. What is quiet time to you? Do you read your Bible? Do you play worship music? Do you have your own little praise and worship party on your own? Do you have a prayer closet? When I first started being diligent in my quiet times they were just that. Quiet. As I grow closer to God my "quiet times" are becoming less and less quiet. Don't get me wrong, sometimes its good for us to just be still, and listen to His voice. (Psalm 46:10) But we are also to make a joyful noise to the Lord. (Psalm 98:4; Psalm 100:1-2) I prefer to read my Bible in the morning with my coffee and do my reading plan through the Bible app. It gets my day started off on the right foot, and everything just falls into place. And yes, every now and then, I'll put on one of my favorite CDs and just worship the Lord right there in my living room.

A few weeks ago I was going through the reading plan by Dave Adamson, Chasing the Light. On the last day he talked about "quiet times." He asked us what we thought Jesus' quiet times looked like. What would His "quiet times" look like?? Mr. Adamson further mentioned that he asked a friend who was a Jewish Rabbi what he thought. The friend explained the traditional Jewish daily devotions for many centuries has been anything but quiet. They would do public readings of Scripture, singing praise and worship, and praying loudly while walking and moving continually. It's anything but quiet.
https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/3353-chasing-the-light/day/5 (Great read, you should check it out sometime.)

Scarcely does the Bible mention Jesus' quiet times. Because He was ALWAYS talking to God. He took any chance He could to pray, focus on and exalt the Lord. His widest method of teaching, however, was by example. (Luke 11:1) The disciples wanted to so badly to become like Jesus, so they would ask Him to explain the "correct" way of praying, living, worshiping, anything. We also have to remember that God was with Him, and in Him. (John 1:1) While He did have some private time set aside to be alone with God, He also wanted to show us what it was like to be one with God. Just think, if Jesus (who was one with God) needed some time to be alone and grow closer to God, how much more do we need to set some time aside to just be alone with the Lord.

We can also learn from the other lessons Jesus taught us. We are a living example of God's love here on earth. After our quiet times alone with God, we then need to take that love and share it with everybody. Jesus never kept God to Himself, He shared Him with everybody. And not just other believers either, He went to the sinners, the beggars, the prostitutes. Jesus wanted to save them more than anything. As my pastor mentioned a few weeks ago in church, "Jesus was a party animal." He never turned anybody away, or avoided anyone. He welcomed everyone to His presence. As He was walking around, praising God with His life, He welcomed everyone to join Him.

Maybe you need to take the next step in your "quiet times." Maybe you need to get a little louder and pop in a worship CD or turn on Pandora and start a worship party of one right in your living room, or get your family involved. Or maybe you've got the home thing down, now you need to live it out loud and take it to the public. Be like Jesus, be a party animal, and welcome everyone into the splendor of the Lord.