Face to Face

"Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always." Psalm 105:4

A few years ago my wife gave me a book for Christmas entitled "Need for the Bike." I loved it! If I haven't been out on my bike in a few days I start to feel that need. I tell my wife I need some bike time.

Even more important than bike time, however, is face time. There's no substitute for being face to face with my wife, or with any of the people I love and care about. We all understand this, and it's why "Face Time" on the iPhone, iPad and MacBook has become so popular. It's alsy why Skype is so widely used. Even though it's not the same as being "face to face," Face Time or Skype is a better alternative than just hearing the other person's voice over the phone, or worse yet, just exchanging an email or text message.

There are times when I try to "multi-task" around my wife. As she's talking to me I'm looking at the computer, reading a book or a newspaper, or playing a game on my phone. Her stunning accusation is, "You're not listening to me." In fact, even if I am able to repeat word for word the sentence that she just spoke, it doesn't help the situation. The reality is that she wants some face time. She wants me to put down what I'm doing, look her in the eye, listen to what she says, and respond appropriately. Face time is demanding!

Face time is also rewarding. It's cements relationships. It strengthens bonds. It increases trust. It brings joy. It mends rifts. That's why face time with God is so important. Yes, that's what I said, "face time with God." But how do you get "face time" with a God we cannot see?

God has clearly revealed Himself to us, through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." When we look to Jesus we are enjoying face time with God. But even Jesus isn't bodily present here on earth. So how do we get our face time with Him? The answer is found in God's Word. When we spend time in the Word, we come face to face with God.

But so often, we don't enjoy the kind of quality face time that we should. We are too rushed to make time for our personal Bible reading so we settle for just being in church. Or we do our devotional reading out of a sense of obligation, just rushing through it to get done. We don't meditate on His Word. That's face time with God.

Sometimes we just shoot quick "arrow" prayers up to heaven about the immediate need in our life, and fail to spend any focused time in prayer, speaking to God from the heart and listening for His Spirit. That's face time with God. But when quick "arrow" prayers is all that our prayers consist of, we're not seeking God's face. All we're seeking is His hand or His gifts. God wants us to seek His face.

And sometime we're too busy to sit down face to face with a hurting person and listen to their needs, hear their hurt, and share their pain. That's face time with God, believe it or not. Because when we do this, we're being Jesus to the person we're face to face with.

Face time is important. Let's not do to God what I sometimes do to my wife, multi-tasking our way through the day without ever spending any real face time in His presence. God's Word tells us to seek His face.