Last week we started a conversation about how to develop consistency and get the most out of your time in the Word. If you haven’t read that post click here and get caught up before reading below. This week we are going to pick up where we left off.
What about genealogies, confusing prophesies and laws about temple sacrifices?
Some things in the Bible are just super boring to read! That’s why it’s important to recognize that different parts of the Bible have different purposes. Some chapters or books are not going to be super profitable to simply read through. That doesn’t mean they have no value. Every word of God has value and God has spoken some very profound things to me as I was half asleep reading confusing prophesies. But most often these passages are more profitable for study than for reading.
For instance, Eric Ludy has a sermon titled “The Lineage of Majesty” in which he looks at the meaning of every name in Jesus’ genealogy and then strings together those name meanings into sentences. Wow is that an incredible genealogy! The names basically tell the gospel. If you just read those verses you’ll get very little out of them, but if you study them, they are rich with meaning!
The point is, skipping over lists of names or the dimensions of the temple when you are simply reading through the word of God isn’t sin. In fact, if these difficult passages are keeping you from reading the Bible I encourage you to skip them! The important thing is to be reading the Bible. At the same time try reading a difficult passage every once in awhile and see if God might want to open your eyes to some gold nugget hidden in there.
How often should I read the Bible and when should I read it?
How often would you want to read a text from your fiancé? There’s no commandment in the Bible that says we need to read it every day but why would you not want to? It’s the words of your Beloved, a love letter from God. If you want to love God and get to know Him you need to read His words to you often.
How often do you eat? Jesus said “man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” The Bible is our spiritual food; without it we will starve spiritually. A healthy person wants to eat every single day, only sick people loose their appetite. In the same way, hunger for God’s word is a sign of spiritual health. A person who reads it every day will grow strong and be healthy, while someone who doesn’t read their Bible regularly or who has no appetite to read it will be spiritually weak.
As for when you should read the Bible, again there’s no commandment saying you must read your Bible before 8 am. Nevertheless, I find it interesting to note that all of our christian heroes made a great effort to read the Bible early in the morning. Before other things could get their attention they sought God’s direction and wisdom, comfort and encouragement through the pages of scripture.
George Muller said “the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day is to have my soul happy in the Lord.” And David, the one who so loved God’s word wrote “early will I seek You.”
What if I just don’t have time?
You might be thinking “I wish I could read my Bible every day, but I just don’t have time for that.” Let me ask you a question – Do you have time for social media every day? Is it practical for you to stay up late every night watching movies?
Not having time is a matter of priorities. We make time for what we value. Where is the Word of God on your priority list? Do your friends, internet time, other books, movies, sports, and music rank more important that your relationship with Christ? “The vigor of our spiritual life will be in exact proportion to the place held by the Bible in our life and thoughts.” (George Muller) If we want our relationship with God to become sweeter we need to prioritize it. And yes that might mean rearranging our schedules, or giving up some of those other things we are involved in so that we can spend that time pouring over the words of the Living God.
You might be surprised at how much time you spend on other activities. Try keeping track of how you spend your time this week. Write down how much time you spend on social media, watching movies, texting friends, working on your hobbies etc. Don’t just guess. Check the clock or start a timer when you log onto your social media account and make note of your time when you log out. You might need to cut out an activity altogether, or you might just be able to cut out 30 minutes of internet time a day in order to spend that time reading God’s word.
Something that I have found extremely helpful in this area is having a schedule. One day I sat down and calculated how much time I needed to get ready for work and have breakfast with my family in the morning. Then I added an extra hour to that time to spend in God’s word and prayer and set my alarm accordingly. For me this means waking up around 6:30am every day. Now it’s hard to get up early and stay awake during my devos if I’m always going to bed super late. So when I made my schedule I also figured out how much sleep I need each night in order to function during the day (without being super grumpy). I need 7 hours of sleep on average and it generally takes me about 20 minutes to fall asleep, which means that I need to be in bed around 11 every night to be able to wake up at 6:30.
Having a schedule has increased my consistency more than anything else! It’s impossible to forget to read my Bible when it’s planned into my morning routine. I would encourage you to sit down and decide when you want to read your Bible and then plan out your morning and evening and set your alarm clock!
What if I don’t feel like reading or I don’t get anything out of it?
Bottom line, just keep at it!
My parents started me reading the Bible in grade 1 or 2. For years I struggled to have consistency and didn’t get very much out of it. But looking back on those years I am so grateful that I persevered and kept reading even when I didn’t feel like it!
For starters it developed discipline in my life. Over time I formed a great habit of reading daily, that I am now so thankful for. And it taught me not to just read when I feel like it. I don’t always jump out of bed excited to read my Bible. Most of the time I just want to sleep for another 30 minutes. But once I open God’s word and start reading I love it. If I only read when I felt like it I would miss out on some incredible times of communion with Christ and I would hardly ever read at all.
Second, my knowledge of the Bible is so much greater! Even though I didn’t see immediate results from my reading, those stories and verses were being stored in my memory and even now they come back to my remembrance as I pray or read other related passages or listen to sermons, or read books. I know the Bible so much better because I have read it for so many years.
Even if you don’t feel like you’re getting anything at all out of your time in the Word, God is using it to shape your thinking, to develop habits, and to deepen your knowledge of who He is and what He is like.
Apply it!
I pray that you would invest this time and energy into your relationship with Christ. Knowing Him is worth it! We talked about a few practical steps you can take towards loving scripture, I hope you will seriously consider taking those steps.
If you haven’t already, go download a Bible reading plan.
Track how you spend your time this week and prayerfully make necessary changes.
Create a schedule for when you will read.
I’d love to chat with you below!
Have you ever asked any of these questions?
What’s your biggest challenge in reading God’s word?