I have struggled year after year. Making the resolution to have daily quiet time every January 1st. I’m super pumped that first week of January and by the third week “life” has gotten in the way. What truly gives us life is God’s word. When I am reading the bible every day, I am more peaceful, joyful, and patient. I yell at my kids way less and deal with the frustrating insurance agent with a little more grace.
I love the New Living Translation version of this verse: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” -2 Timothy 3:16-17.
I need God to speak truth into me daily! I need to be prepared and equipped! We all struggle with finding the time. If we want to do “good work” we need to be reading the bible daily.
If you are anything like me, you need some practical ideas to get you moving in the right direction. My favorite tip would be to pick up a devotional. There are so many great devotionals out there. Shauna Niequist has a beautiful one called Savor. I also really love Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. You can have it sitting on your nightstand so that it’s the first thing you see when waking up. To help you remember: Schedule an appointment in your planner or set an alarm on your phone to spend time with God.
A site I absolutely love is She Reads Truth. I love that I can just pull up their website or open their app on my phone. It doesn’t matter if I’m on vacation or at work, I have no excuse not to spend a little time with God. The site has several different devotionals based on a book of the bible or by topic.
These devotionals are wonderful but do not take for granted opening up the bible to your favorite book or a random page and just reading. I think we can be scared of not understanding what we are reading without a devotional or commentary. Those things can be helpful but God is going to speak to you. He will show you what he wants to teach you.
I’m passionate about helping people find ways of getting God’s word in their daily life. This year, Life Passionately will attending Allume as a sponsor. We will have several items including a daily planner to help you remember to take time for God.
Spending time in His word, not only helps me to be more centered but I feel more connected to God. How many times have you read a verse in the bible and felt it was meant just for you? In Matthew, Jesus talks about how important God’s word is. When he was being tempted by the devil, Jesus told him “…It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4, NIV). I believe he was saying that we need God’s word to sustain us. Just like we need food daily, we need God’s word.