I have been following Jesus for about 10 years now. I grew up in the church but walked away because I did not understand who God was, and why He asked us to follow a different path than the world. My return to church in the last 10 years has really challenged me to get to know God. I started by going to church more regularly, listening to more worship music and reading Christian books. This all helped, but I hit a wall a few years back. I realized the most important resource to know God, I wasn’t using. The Bible was my missing piece. This was a changing point for me in my relationship with God. I made a choice to start the practice of reading the Bible every single day. I carefully use the word “practice” because I do not always get to it. I have had many days where I lay down to go to bed and God gently reminds me ‘I missed you today being in my Word.’
I have struggled for so many years knowing that I need to read the Bible, but I never made time, effort, or a plan to do it. I needed to start making a planned choice every day. The Bible is long and very complex. It is not a book you pick up, read through once, and get what you can out of it. If we truly treasure God, our hearts will long to know Him more and spend time with Him. In Matthew 6:21 Jesus says “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
I recently heard someone describing the Bible as one big story with lots of little stories inside. The big story is where you find out who God is. We can’t just call God and ask him to have coffee with us, so we can get to know Him. God gave us His Word, the Bible, where anyone can get to know Him. God built us for relationship. To create a relationship, you need to spend time with a person. Think of your best friend. How often do you talk with them? Do you plan time in your busy life to spend with them? Building a relationship with God and Jesus is no different. Want to know who He is? Spend time reading about Him. Everything we want to know about God is in the Bible. He even gave us Jesus to study.
Jesus was the only blameless person to walk the earth, and what did He spend his time doing? He spent time with people and with God. He is the only example in the Bible of who God wants us to be like. As it says in John 14:7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.
At the beginning of my commitment to the Bible, I tried to just fit it in each day. It took me far too long to realize that this was not enough. This led me to creating a daily routine I could follow at least five out of seven days, and I started to practise my new routine. Practice makes progress, and progress can take us a long way.
I believe an important step of faith in God is acknowledging the truth of the Bible. When we acknowledge the Bible as God’s truth, we can measure everything against it. 2 Timothy 3:16 says it best, All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. It’s like a measuring tape. Before we can use it, we need to learn how to read and interpret the measurements. The Bible is the same. We won’t know what truth it holds unless we read it and learn to interpret it. This requires time and practice.
Do you have to spend hours in the Bible each day? No, each person can find the amount of time that works for them. I believe that we need to make the personal choice each day to sit with God’s Word. When I started to make that choice, it took almost a year and a half before I could say, “I’m reading God’s Word almost every single day.” Daily Bible reading can be as long or as short as you have to give. It only takes about 10-15 minutes a day to read the entire Bible in one year.
If you have never attempted to read the whole Bible, that’s okay. There is no time like the present. Take a look at your day and choose a time when you can consistently keep a scheduled meeting with God. Set a timer on your phone every day, block it into your calendar as a meeting, or choose to get up 10-15 minutes earlier each day. Whatever you choose, just make a conscious choice to read God’s Word.
Not a reader? That’s fine too, there are many options to listen to the Bible. Listening still counts as reading, as my husband recently accepted. Before everyone had their own physical or digital copy, believers would gather to have the Bible read to them. Even if you like reading, try listening to the Bible as well as reading it. When you don’t have to stumble through some of the incomprehensible Hebrew names in the Old Testament, you can focus on the story line instead.
Life is busy, I know that far too well. I also know that we can make the things that matter happen. The practice of daily Bible reading is fundamental for all Christians. My prayer is that each one of us, those seeking God, and those who have found Him, would make the Bible a priority every single day. God’s Word has the power to change us. I am living some of that amazing change right now in my life. When we say yes to the important things in life, it means we have to say no to other things. Start practising today, and every day, until we join God in eternal glory.
Bible Plan Resources:
YouVersion App or Bible.com (Can be read or listened too)
Daily Audio Bible:
Our Daily Bread: