Quality Talking Time

"And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." And he said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?" And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." Mark 10:35-36

Now, while it would be awesome to be at Jesus' right or left hand in Heaven, and you can't blame them for trying, there was an agenda here.

They went to Jesus with this big, "Don't say no to us," statement. Then, in an effort to earn some brownie points, they asked that one of them be seated on Jesus' right, and the other on His left in Heaven.

Sometimes we make our time with God so conditional. And then instead of spending time with God, we try to butter Him up for our requests.

At my first writing conference, the welcoming class speaker, an editor, tried to calm those of us who were on the verge of puking because we were about to pitch our lives and souls to real editors and agents. She said the normal about relaxing and being yourself, and then she said something that stuck. She told us that sometimes it's really great for them to not hear about another story. That sometimes the biggest impressions were made by the authors that just talked to them for the sake of talking.

We need to spend more time talking to Jesus just for the sake of talking to Him. No to-do lists or agendas. No trying to earn brownie points with Him. Just us and God. The sound of His voice as we talk.

We will end up in His glory, right now. It can be yours for the low, low price of quality time talking with Jesus.

---Joy