I was raised in a very solid Christian home. I saw my mom reading her Bible very often in the morning. My dad was a pastor and would talk about what he was studying in Bible very often in casual conversation (still does). When I reached my early teens, I acquired an interest in learning all things theology and about the Bible. I would say though that my daily Bible reading, however, was a huge struggle for me.
The constant pattern would go something like this: I would resolve to do better in my Bible reading. I would read a chapter a day for about a week, maybe a month, and then something would throw the whole pattern off. Suddenly three months of not reading my Bible later, in would set the guilt. Where did I go wrong and why couldn’t I get myself motivated to jump back in?
I would try to justify my guilt by saying that I just wasn’t being legalistic in my Bible reading. Legalism was also the excuse I used to avoid any Bible reading plans. Every youth group leader or Bible study leader would say: “now don’t just read your Bible to get that check mark on your list.” Honestly, I wish that I had never heard anyone ever say that. I did not need any extra ideas for justifying my laziness in daily devotions.
As a quick note, I am not saying that the youth group leader or Bible study leader is wrong and that there is no danger of pride setting in because “you checked all the days in your Bible reading plan.” Pride is a whole other subject, and I do not think that there should be any pride in taking the time to feed your soul. What I am arguing is that I think the problem of just getting people into the Word is the more widespread issue than Christians sticking their noses in the clouds because they read their Bible more than their brother in Christ. Again, note: if you are that Christian with their nose in the sky, come off your high horse and help some brothers out who are struggling.
Anyways, I had avoided Bible reading plans for a long time since they had the connotation of being legalistic in my mind. I still had the guilt of not being in the word regularly. Two things happened that turned this around for me.
First, when I was in Bible college, they set me up with a mentor who lived very close to the school. She was a dear young mom who helped me out majorly during that overwhelming time of my life. She told me about how she listened to the Bible being read to her via her phone. Now for most of you that might not be a revolutionary idea at all. For me though, this was huge. I had never ever thought to do that before. I had the Bible App on my phone which I used very randomly and usually for verse memorization when I realized that finals were coming up. The whole idea of the Bible being read to me really left me with no easy excuse to not be in the Word because I listen to music and podcasts almost non-stop in my everyday life. (My husband and family members can attest to the truthfulness of this statement.)
The second thing was when my mom asked me to join the “Same Page Summer” Bible Reading Challenge last year. Between my mom asking me to do it, and the Bible Reading Challenge being created by one of my favorite women authors, Rachel Jankovic, I couldn’t really say no. I started the reading plan, and I joined the “Bible Reading Challenge” Facebook group. I watched some of Rachel’s videos, and it completely changed how I looked at reading the Bible. The way she talked about coming the Bible like a meal and how when you miss a meal, you don’t eat extra to make up for it, helped me massively in dealing with my guilt for missing a day. I did not have to drag this massive weight of being a terrible Christian because I forgot a day or two. The important thing was to repent and then get right back into the Word.
A year later, I am still doing their Bible Reading challenge. I am currently doing their Same Page Summer Challenge which I highly encourage you to jump in if you aren’t already doing another Bible reading challenge. You can find the challenge here. I have to say that the guilt I always carried when I came to the Word is finally gone, and I am constantly noticing little details that I never noticed in the Scriptures. Maybe I just forgot them. Either way, it has been refreshing for my soul. I know I don’t do it perfectly, and I do miss days especially when my schedule gets wack. But, I have to say that this past year has been one of the most consistent years that I have spent in the Word for personal devotions.
Natters Matters 