Effort + Perseverance = Rewards: You Really Can Read the Bible
God’s Word IS life and health, and one of the main ways we connect with God, so reading it is of utmost importance.
1) We will need a Bible.
2) We’ll need to know where we want to start in reading it.
3) We’ll need to know what we want to focus on (a specific topic, general overview, spiritual growth, it’s entirety, etc…).
4) And we need to choose a time of day.
What time of day will work best for you?
Even if you don’t consider yourself a morning person, there’s something to be said for the first thing in the morning—before your day hits you full on with it’s cares, concerns, and to-do lists.
In the morning, our minds have not had a chance to start ruminating, processing, and focusing on the hundred things that are a part of our lives and that come rushing at us in today’s fast pace, hurry-up-and-get-it-done, information-driven lives.
If you think lunch time or evening time will work for you, try it. If your plan stalls, then re-evaluate getting up earlier in the morning. Don’t give up on reading the Bible just because your first attempt doesn’t work. Whatever it takes to read it—it is more than worth it.
One lesson from experience: If you try to read the “when you feel like it,” there will be many times, especially when starting out, when you aren’t necessarily in the mood and don’t feel like it. And so you won’t.
Choose a specific time and a specific place, so that it becomes an enjoyable “habit,” an enjoyable looked-forward-t0 time spent with God.
More on Making it a Daily Habit
Building Faith with Bible Pathway – the book that has helped me read the Bible – uses calendar dates that at first I had a problem with. We all know how important my opinion is. At first I was unhappy about the way the calendar dates (January 1, January 2, etc…), and I thought they should have numbered the days, Day 1, Day 2, and so on,
That way, when I missed a day or two, I could just pick up again on my second day. (Looking back, I see that I was already planning on reading – hit or miss. That’s sad.)
What happened was, inadvertently, the calendar dates ended up forcing me to develop the habit of reading every day even though it took awhile.
I’d miss a day or two, here or there, and when I did, Id have to double up reading for a day or so. There were a few times I missed quite a few days in a row and would have to double up my reading for several days to catch up. I think there was one time after being on vacation, it took me a week or more to catch up.
Eventually, I learned. I developed the habit of reading every day.
Now, I’m happy to say, that first came the habit and now comes the joy. I look forward to my quiet time with God each morning.
Don’t Give Up
Make a commitment to NOT give up. It takes awhile to develop the habit of daily reading. And daily spending time with God. You must have time and patience for creating change. Your persistence will be greatly rewarded. Setting a goal is easy—working hard at it, day after day, is difficult.
Even something as important as reading the Bible, doesn’t come without effort.
Give yourself time, and give God’s Word time to have an affect on you.
May God bless you as you seek Him.
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