The discipline of Bible Reading

Now let me be honest with you friends, sometimes I find it hard to read my Bible. There are times when life seems so busy, when I feel tired to open the Bible and engage. Sometimes when I read, I struggle to keep my mind engaged. Do you ever find yourself in such moments? Reading your Bible daily can be a fight.

The Psalmist in Psalm 1:2 tells us that the blessed man delights in the law of the LORD, and on this law, he meditates day and night. Again, in Psalm 119:11 the Psalmist says “I have stored up your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. The apostle Paul, writing to Timothy, a young pastor, declares that “AllScripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness ( 2 Tim 3:16).

You see, God brought the world into existence by speaking to the dark formless material (Genesis 1). Even now, we are told that Jesus upholds the universe by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:3). So, friends, it is evident that if we are to thrive as Christians, if we are to grow and if we are to make it to the end, we need to fight the good fight of ensuring that we spend time in Scripture. We need to listen and mediate upon the words of the Bible because God chose to reveal himself in Scripture and no other form of revelation is above his written word, the Bible.

So, the question is “how do we do that?”. How do we ensure consistency even in times when we are busy and when we don’t feel like reading the Bible? Here are a few suggestions that I have found to be helpful in my own fight to keep reading the Bible regularly:

1. You need to acknowledge that it will be a fight. There are so many demands on your time. And you need to make intentional effort to read the Bible.

2. You need to have a plan. Reading the Bible consistently will not happen by mistake or coincidence. You need to have a plan, whether it’s your own plan or one you can pick up from many wonderful Bible reading plans out there. I have personally found the Bible In One Year, which takes you through the whole Bible in a year to be very helpful.

3. You need to carve out some time. I think this is one of the areas where the devil fights us the most by keeping us busy with other things. I have found it helpful to make regular times when you dig into the word of God.

4. Lastly, you need grace. We cannot save ourselves by our good works, even if we master the art of reading the bible for 3 hrs daily. God has provided all that is needed for our salvation in his Son and this is available to us by grace through faith.