Well it was a pretty average couple of days. The hot water tank packed it in. No hot water. No hot showers. Right in the middle of one of the coldest starts to winter in years. Then I came home one night and turned my computer on and… nothing! AAAAAAAAAAARGH! The pain, the frustration, the isolation, the agony. I was lost. What was I supposed to do? How would I survive? Life didn’t seem to be worth living.
It is amazing how reliant we become on the “modern comforts” of our day. Hot showers and computers are relatively recent inventions, but I have come to rely on them so heavily that I feel that I can hardly survive without them.
If only I had this attitude to the Bible. If only I checked the Bible as often as I checked Facebook. If only I was as hungry for God’s Word as I was hungry for food. If only I consulted God’s wisdom as often as I consulted my friends for wisdom. If only I felt completely lost if I missed reading the Bible for a day or two, like I felt completely lost when I couldn’t have a hot shower for a day or two.
It is not always easy to read the Bible, but it is God’s powerful Word.
“… the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:15-17
So how is your Bible reading going? Need to make a fresh start? Here are some tips to get you going again.
1) Remember you are reading the Word of God. God is speaking to you as you read it. Before you start, pray that He will help you understand his word.
2) Actually read it! Set aside some time regularly, each day if possible, to get to know God better. Give up one TV show, some computer time or get up 10 minutes earlier in the morning – however you do it, make sure you devote some time to learning from God’s Word.
3) Read it with your brain in gear. Try to pick a time of the day when you are not exhausted. It does take concentration to read the Bible, so be sure to put some energy into it.
4) Learn how to read the Bible. The way you read a telephone directory is different from the way you read a newspaper or a novel, because they are three different types of writing. Likewise, you need to know what sort of book the Bible is so that you will know how to read it. The Bible is one story about how God has loved his people, but it is told in 66 different books. It traces God’s involvement with humanity from creation right up to the end of the world.
5) The Bible teaches us about God and about how we should live to please God. After you have a read a chunk of the Bible, you can ask yourself these questions: “What do I learn about God and Jesus? How you I respond to what this is saying?”
Why not start now!