Though I can only speak for myself with any authority, I would not be surprised if you could relate to this. Maybe not exactly, but in a similar fashion.

When I was a kid, I thoroughly enjoyed reading. It was not odd for me to become so engrossed in what I was reading that I would not hear someone talking to me. I would be imagining myself going along with the characters in the book. That caused some trouble at times when I didn’t hear something, and was lost as to what was going on.

As I progressed in school, the amount, and “quality,” of what I had to read increased. The losing myself in the storyline began to suffer. The fun of it had been taken from me. Even books that I chose to read started to seem less fun.

After I graduated from college, I started telling myself that I had lost the pleasure that I used to have for reading. That I didn’t read nearly as much as I used to. Recently though, that has been called into question.

I still read a bunch; in fact, I do not find it odd to read the back of the cereal box before I pick up my bowl to eat. Any piece of paper with writing on it that I can make out is fair game to be read. I still look for articles that are about something that interests me. I’ll even read the dictionary when I can find a paper copy. (stop laughing)

My point is, that pleasure that I had been telling myself was gone, isn’t. It is still there trying to get air. I never lost the desire to read, I just didn’t use it in a way that would let it develop. I tried to satisfy it with short bursts, instead of letting it run rampant like it used to.

On a side note: As bad as this sounds, and if any of my teachers ever see it (how have you been?) I apologize, reading to take a test on what I read was not much fun for me. Very rarely did the curriculum include books that were in my preferred genre. I think that might have stifled my reading a slight amount, but not as much as I first thought.

By going back to the type of books that I like, that fun I use to have, and the losing track of time spent reading, is returning.

Now, does this have any point besides getting it out of my head? I think so. In case you are not the type of reader that I am, that isn’t the point.

How often have you said or thought, God seems so far away? I will not dispute that it can feel that way, but feelings are not the best gauge of things. What I believe is happening is the same thing that happened to my reading. Instead of communing with God, we try to get by with snippets. We will “meet with Him” on Sundays, maybe Wednesdays (that’s going to depend on if you have any extra Bible study), and for a few minutes each day.

Like my reading the cereal box, oh sure, I read, but what good is it. Hey, it’s got maltodextrin in it. Yippee! Hey, I spent time with God today. I read a chapter and prayed for 5 minutes. Now I’m good to go.

I know that there are all kinds of things that must be done each day, and we cannot ignore our calling. No where, however, have I seen a verse saying we can ignore God if we are doing His work. How would that be possible? Instead, Paul tells us to be in prayer at all times (1 Thessalonians 5:17). If you look, there are other verses that say we are to spend, not minutes, but lives with God. For that matter, look at how Jesus began His days. He’d sneak away to spend time in prayer.

Don’t think that just because He and God are one means that we have an out. We are followers of Christ; He is to be a model for us. If He can do it, then we need to work towards it. We cannot achieve it on our own, but we still have to do our best; God will pick up the slack.

God is never far, we just keep driving by Him in our daily routines. To finish, I want to relate a story. I don’t know who first told it, so you may have even heard it before.

This older couple was driving down the country road. The woman turned to her husband and said, “Do you remember when we used to sit right next to each other while we drove? Why don’t we do that anymore?”

He replied, “Honey, I haven’t moved.” God isn’t the one that has walked away, so who does that leave?