Too often these days I catch myself wasting time. At my age, wasting time should never be an option. 

Our highest goal, the purpose of life, is to know Him and the power of His life and His love. Regretfully, too often I find myself fascinated by other things. I'm not talking about evil things, just normal things and activities and recreation. 

Yes, I do make time for devotionals and prayer almost daily, but I find myself too distracted by other things to live a DEVOTIONAL LIFE, a life totally set apart unto God - consciously BE-ing with God.

Our society today is so complex and in-your-face as to make a devotional life almost impossible. Sooooooooo many distractions. 

Soooooooo little solitude.  Even in a lifestyle that affords solitude (like mine), life and its little minions scream incessantly and loudly.

Being still is so difficult. Being in solitude, even moreso. 

Television and mobile phones and Facebook and other forms of social media crowd our already busy lives. Just the choices of television programming alone are mindboggling. 

We also live in a world that encourages and rewards an active lifestyle, a mindset of always having something special to do or going somewhere social or even making memories. We want it all - the doing, fixing, arranging, controlling. These activities  constantly drive our worlds and increase our debt. 

Add to that all of the ideas and opinions floating around out there in the airwaves. Sometimes, we just don't take the time to think for ourselves anymore. Everyone else's ideas are readily available for consumption which is so much easier than sitting down and thinking for ourselves which takes time and solitude. 

I need solitude and quietness more than ever before. These things cannot be bought. They have to be cultivated like a garden. They have to be nurtured and protected. This nurturing has to be learned while unlearning other things.

I want to live a DEVOTIONAL LIFE. I want my actions and my words to pour forth from this kind of life.

Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians said, "Make it your goal to live a quiet life." (1Thes 4:11) David quoted God, "Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10) 

We are CALLED to be God's people, not the world's. We are destined to know Him intimately.

Who I am is more important than anything I have done. How well I know God is more important than either of the above.

So today I'm asking some hard questions.

• Am I enjoying the privilege of be-ing? As Michael Bynum says, "We are called human BEINGs, not human doings."
• Am I becoming? Am I beginning to resemble my Father in all I do and say? Am I beginning to love and live the way He desires me to?

One day soon, my life will be over. Since that is inevitable, I cry out like Peter and say, "WHAT HOLY AND GODLY LIVES WE SHOULD LIVE looking forward to the day . . ." we meet God face to face. "While waiting for this to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight." (1Pet 3: 11-14)

I do not want to have just a life filled with devotions; I want to life a DEVOTIONAL LIFE.