Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said, “You cannot know God apart from the Word of God, for the Word of God reveals the God of the Word.”
The daily DISCIPLINE of being in God’s Word is the most important thing a disciple of Christ can practice if they wish to follow hard after God and grow as a Christian. We all HAVE the time – we each get 24 hours a day or 168 hours a week. The only question is, will we MAKE the time? If you spend 15 minutes a day reading, reflecting & responding to the Word of God, you will have ‘sacrificed’ just 1% of your time but be well on your way to developing a LIFE CHANGING DISCIPLINE essential to being a true Follower of Christ!
The Word of God is our foundation and contains everything we need to live in godliness. As God’s children, we are a people of His Word. By His Word all things were created— ‘And God said…’ At His Word, the dead come to life— ‘Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ…’ With His Word He sets you free– ‘It is finished…’
Here are five suggestion for making God’s Word a priority in 2024.
Make the Time— failing to plan is a plan to fail. So set your alarm. Make a daily reminder. Do whatever you need to do to find the time to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to what He has to say. Not everyone is the same, but it is hard to beat making your Bible reading the first thing you do each day. If we want to get our plans for our day from Him, then we better make our daily briefing be first thing in our day.
Have a Plan— first, have a place that you can quietly reflect on what you are reading; a place that your brain associates with your time in the Word. Then have a reading plan. We desire that everyone plan to make the Daily Readings a part of your Bible reading in 2024. This allows us to all be having the same conversation around ‘what the Spirit is saying to us in the Word.’ You can get each day’s reading emailed to you by signing up for the short In the Word Today devotional I write and send out each morning. The sign up is on the homepage of our website. And let’s all be on the lookout to invite others to join us on this journey with Jesus. We will also be reading through the Bible in a Year in a new format. These readings are in the bulletin and that is posted online each week as well.
Get Help— I love Warren Weirsbe’s little commentary on every chapter of the Bible called ‘With the Word’. It has a short reading that helps bring context to the conversation you are having with God. Also consider reaching out to a leader at church. We would love to sit down and help show you how we Read, Reflect and Respond to God’s Word. There are resources on the Connect Table at the building, in the Disciple-Makers Took Kit, and HERE on our website that can help too.
Be Accountable— find ways to share what you are reading. Doing the Daily Readings as a couple, family, or with friends is very helpful with this as you are all having a similar conversation. Join, or start, a D-Group that is centered around your Reading and Responding times. Send a text to a friend letting them know “what the Holy Spirit revealed to you in the Word of God today.”
Remember the point— when you are in a relationship with someone you love, you communicate. You want to talk with each other. The point of daily Bible reading is not to check off a box, but to have a daily check-up with your Redeemer so that He can do some soul-work through His Word. Remember, when our ‘have to’ turns to ‘get to’ we know we ‘want to’ for the right reasons.
Here is to getting into the Word, getting the Word into you, and letting the Word do the work in our life. I have yet to meet the person who has developed this daily discipline who has not found it to be truly life-altering. I am excited to hear how it will show itself so in your life in the coming year.
Many blessings and MUCH love!
~doug