I pity believers who do not spend time with God first thing. They know not what they do…or rather what they don’t do.
For most, everything is more important than time spent with Jesus: sleeping 15 minutes longer, newsfeeds, breakfast, work, kids—like I said, everything! But oh, the satisfaction of hearing God’s voice from His Word! It will be just what you need.
This morning I was reminded of his great faithfulness:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness. (Lamentation 3:22-23)
Perhaps it’s reassurance that He’s there; maybe a reminder that your sins are forgiven. Perchance, he may tell you of His eternal love for you. The bottom line? You just will not know unless you make time for Him.
We can sometimes forget that this book we have is indeed the Word of God. God spoke and it was written down. To live a life that is pleasing to the Lord we must read his Word.
The American Bible Society reported that “more than half of Americans think the Bible has too little influence on a culture they see in moral decline, yet only one in five Americans read the Bible on a regular basis.”
The average American household has 4.4 Bibles yet only 57% of Americans read their Bibles four times a year or less. Only 26% said they read their Bible four or more times a week. The conclusion? Almost a third of respondents said moral decline was a result of people not reading the Bible.”
No wonder one man called the Bible: “America’s favorite unopened text.”
How different from the Bible reading habits of yesteryear:
John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of our country, once stated: “So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society. I have for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year.”
William Booth (1829-1912), founder of the Salvation Army made this resolution: “I hereby vow to read no less than four chapters in God’s Word every day.” His wife Catherine read through the Bible eight times before she even turned 12 years old.
All these people loved, honored, and read the Bible. Do you?
This is what I counsel troubled believers to do: put God first. Seek first His Kingdom. His righteousness. Be a real Christian, one who makes Jesus your all in all.
A habit that I have cultivated over the years is this: I do not eat until I have read my Bible. In other words, “No Bible. No Breakfast.” “No read, no feed.” “Bible before belly.”
Not a morning person? My final offer: “No Bible. No Bed.”
Andrew Murray (1828-1917) said, “God desires that every servant of His would understand and perform this blessed practice, that His church would know how to train its children to recognize this high and holy privilege, and that every believer would realize the importance of making time for God alone. Oh, the thought of having God all alone to myself and knowing that God has me all alone.”
“O my soul, practice that solitude!” wrote George Matheson (1842-1946). “Practice dismissing the crowd! Practice the stillness of your heart! Practice the majestic song ‘God and I! God and I!’ Let no one come between you and your wrestling angel! You will receive conviction yet pardon, when you meet Jesus alone!”
Haddon Robinson said: “The Bible is like the ocean. You can wade in it, feed from it, live on it—or drown in it. But those who take the time to learn its truths and practice them will be changed forever.”