Timed-released vitamins and daily devotions

 

I have come to see that I am a terrible patient when it comes to taking supplements. 

I do fairly well if I have been prescribed a medicine by a doctor, like an antibiotic, but in the vitamin and supplement department, I just don’t do so well. Even though I know I should be more faithful, for me it is still a struggle.  For that reason, I have always preferred those “timed-release” compounds, like Vitamin C – mostly because they are advertised to be taken only once daily, and then they magically release their ingredients on their own, after I’ve already welcomed them into my – uh, body! 

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Why do I like that?  Because I don’t have to think about it after I take the vitamin. No after-lunch, or after-dinner pill to have to remember.  

Sadly, as easy as it seems it should be, I often don’t remember to take that convenient time-released vitamin the next day either. In fact, days can go by before I think, “No, no – I forgot to take my vitamins… again!”  

The sad thing is, it is all too easy to view my devotional life the same way – with a “timed-release approach to prayer and reading,” whereby I read a chapter one morning, but then get busy during that day. “But hey, I had my devotions this morning!  I am OK!”  But, the next morning, I can find myself waking and starting off on a fast note… bypassing my quiet time all together, yet somehow thinking that the benefit of yesterday’s reading and prayer time will just continue to “time-release” itself perpetually into my heart.  

Well, there is no doubt that the Word of God is more powerful than we can imagine or even comprehend.  But that doesn’t mean we are to treat it as optional, the way I tend to treat my supplements.

What a model Jesus set before us.  Though He was the Son of the Living God, He Himself saw the need to regularly get up early and seek the face of His Father. 

He needed that daily communion. So do I. We all need it.

Someone once said, “there is no better time than now…”  This very moment is the best time to begin to treat my devotional life differently. Time to lose that timed-release mentality.  My devotional time with God is much more like the air I breathe, than like my daily vitamins. 

After all, I never forget to breathe.

 

About the Author

Mike Gilland is Operations Manager for The Shepherd Radio Network, a group of radio stations in Florida that features the “Christian Teach/Talk” format. Mike hosts a daily talk radio show in the 2 PM hour called “Afternoons with Mike”, talking to local pastors and newsmakers.  In Gainesville, Mike is heard on WTMN – 96.3 FM / 1430 AM. In Ocala, on WRZN – 103.5 FM / 720 AM. In addition to his broadcast experience, Mike spent 36 years in full-time ministry as a pastor and worship leader.  As a guitarist, Mike performs at concerts, restaurants, private parties, etc. He is married to Cindy, the father of four grown children and grandfather to seven grandchildren.

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