There is one discipline that you absolutely, positively, without a doubt, no excuses have to master as a follower of Christ. That one discipline is daily Bible reading and prayer. It is so simple yet so incredibly hard to master. Here is how it goes:
- Open your Bible
- Read
- Apply
Three EASY steps. Seriously, it does not have to be complicated. You do not have to get out your concordance, Confession or Systematic Theology textbook. Just open your Bible, read and apply. It doesn’t have to take you an hour, you don’t have to light a candle, you don’t have to be dressed a certain way, you don’t have to say a prayer with a bunch of “thee’s” and “thou’s”. Open your Bible, read and apply.
Why is it so hard? There are a thousand reasons but basically we either don’t see the true benefit or we get distracted. Most people just don’t see how this simple discipline can change your life. The God of the universe wants to speak and be with you today. Open your Bible, read and apply. This is the main way in which God speaks to us but we just don’t always see it.
We get distracted and have other things to do rather than open your Bible, read and apply. I was distracted this morning before I started this discipline. I had this idea for this blog (the one I’m writing right now), and I wanted to write it first, then open my Bible, read and apply. But I decided to set aside the blog and do the most important thing first, open my Bible, read and apply. Facebook, email, twitter, a long “to do” list; these and a thousand other things are screaming at you first thing in the morning. But you really need to be able to set them aside just for a few minutes to open your Bible, read and apply.
I could go into detail about these three things but for now I just want to encourage you to open your Bible, read and apply it to your life.
All for Jesus,
Fletch
Comments
Absolutely, every day is a new day, every day we get to start over again. There is no reason to lose heart, give up or stop trying, Jesus allows us to start over as many times as we need to.
You have stated it perfectly! It is very difficult to keep the priorities straight. I struggle with this even though I know what you said about what must come first is always the best way to start the day. Even so, if people do get off track, it is important for them not to feel condemnation and accusation to the point of giving up. They must just get right back on track once again. God allows us to do that!