High Maintenance?

Stylish, prim, proper, hair done, nails done, going tanning, designer clothing, designer perfumes, purses, shoes.,nice luxurious homes, luscious gardens,fancy cars...the list goes on and on....these are things that although innocent in themselves are typically associated with "high maintenance." I remember a few years back when the only way I could feel good about myself was if I had brand name clothes on, my nails done and went tanning and hair was perfect. Through doing this over and over each month I ended up spending and wasting so much money trying to fill that void of happiness I was missing. I was me underneath it all just had resorted to being called HIGH MAINTENANCE and needing a lot more effort and time to supply my needs. If consumed by anything other then God's word it can become detrimental. What if we put into our spiritual lives the effort and time that we place on our physical being. We get so wrapped up in maintaining our homes and lives that we have NO TIME left to maintain our spirits.
I've found myself in that place many times and what I am learning and have learned in the past is that it was/is time to simplify my/your life when it gets to this point. Check the account to see if spiritually we can afford it.
2 Timothy 2:4 says, "Do not get entangled in the affairs of this life." NOTHING is as important as spending daily time with God in His word and in prayer.
Just in the past week if I am not able to have my prayer time and devotional time of a morning it throws off my day and I feel lost until that time that I can have it. This does not mean that I am saying, "thou shalt have devotions at wee hours of the morning" My free time is actually in the afternoon so some days it has worked out better to do it then so I can focus more on what I am learning/praying. But, there is power in seeking Him early in the morning and it gives me a sense of joy to feel spiritually maintained at the beginning of the day but I must realize that I am bound to have a leaky faucet somewhere along the line of the afternoon so I need to be sure to carry a wrench and tool bag with me just in case.
Mark 4:19 states, "The cares and anxieties of the world, and distractions of the age, and the pleasure and delight and fasle glamour and deceitfulness of riches, and the craving and passionate desire for other things creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless. "
So next time I get in that mood of wanting nothing but to go tanning or get my hair done or to buy something new for this home I will be reminded that I need to go to the First Bank of Christ to make sure I have the assets available!!