Nowadays, our schedules seem to pile up extra quickly. Almost everyone is busy and there's never a lack of things to do. In the midst of being overwhelmed, it so often seems that the first thing to go out of the window is the time we have to read God's Word.
We know that it's important to read God's Word. We all agree with Psalm 119:105 when it tells us, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." But why do we still sometimes find ourselves neglecting our daily Bible reading?
That's because desire is not enough. Think about it. You can desire a cheeseburger with fries all day long, but just wanting one won't make one fall on your lap. There's no reason to not believe that it works the same way with our desire to read the Bible. So what do we need?
What we need is a plan- a strategy to get into a Bible reading habit and to stick to it. Here are five steps to making time to read the Word of God even when we're extremely busy.
Start small. If you're only starting or re-starting a Bible-reading habit, don't expect to read one book a day. Starting small is always the wisest way to go. When we are faithful with the little, God will entrust us with more. (Luke 16:10) You can start of with reading a few verses or a chapter for a few minutes a day. It's not about how much of the Bible you know but how much of it you apply.
Find the time that suits you best. Generally reading the Bible in the morning works for most people, but it doesn't work for all. I know people who find reading during lunch, in the afternoon or even at night working better for them. Bible reading is about building a relationship with God and that relationship might look different from others. What matters is that it works for you.
Set aside a place for meditation. Aside from deciding when you will read your Bible it's also important to know where. Do you like meditating in a cafe, at home, in the office or in your room? The most important thing is we read where we can really give the Word the focus it deserves.
Don't just read. Meditate. It can't be stressed enough how important meditation is. Reading for the sake of reading will always seem like a chore but meditating on the Word makes it a delight. Meditation brings about delight.
Commit to do it daily. Reading the Word is a discipline. Just like any other discipline (exercising, eating healthy and so on) it takes small rudiments done over a long period of time. We must commit to do it daily for a long time, not just seasonally.
