Staying in the Word

For the past several years I have made it a practice to read through the Bible in a year. It is amazing how no matter how many times you read through the books of the Bible, God has so much to teach us in it! I always come across things I either had not noticed before or that I wasn’t ready to fully understand and can now see it better, through the Holy Spirit opening my understanding. This year I’ve been following a read through the Bible guide our church passed out back in January. Each day we have a reading from the Old Testament, a Psalm or Proverbs chapter, and a passage from the New Testament. By following this plan we will have read through the whole Old Testament once, except Psalms and Proverbs which we’ll have read twice), the Gospels, Acts and Revelation twice, and the Epistles three times by the end of December. The readings are broken up in such a way that though the number of chapters read each day varies, the number of verses is pretty consistent each day.

I have really liked reading through the Bible this way. Having the suggested chapters listed by the day of the month has been a great way to keep me on track with staying in the Word each day. There is a temptation, however, to just read through the day’s chapters and treat them as a goal to be accomplished rather than taking the time to really think about what I’m reading. I have often had to stop and re-read something because I find my mind wandering. I can read the words on the page but be thinking about something else, and it’s sometimes a struggle to go back and really read thoughtfully and prayerfully, but if I just treat it as a goal to accomplish, what’s the point? My real purpose in reading the Bible daily is not to be a legalist about reading it and check off my to do list for the day that I followed my little guide, but to use that guide to encourage me to stay in the Word and learn what it says and fill my mind and heart with it so that I can learn to live a life worthy of the calling of one who belongs to Christ.

I don’t want to get top heavy, just filling my mind but not living what I’m learning, that is a sure road to spiritual pride. I don’t want to just study so I can feel proud of how often I read the Bible or how much I think I know. I pray that I will be diligent to learn so that I can be giving away what the Lord teaches me. I want to learn so I can better live for God’s glory. I want to be a doer of the Word as well as a hearer. I want to be an evangelist in my home, teaching my children and talking to them as we wake up, as we sit together, as we walk along the way. Something that really blessed my heart yesterday was that the boys requested that while we continue working through the catechism and reading the biblical support verses as we do, but they want to start reading through the Bible together, too, “Like you read through it, Mom.” That was exciting to me, and I’m praying that Drew and I will have wisdom as we begin to do this so we can accurately explain to them as we go along, and I’m praying that God will make His word never return void, just as He promised in His word and continue to open their understanding.

I want to have my heart and mind so full of the knowledge of God’s grace that I will have a compulsion to talk about Him and a compassion to share His truth with others, which He alone can cause to grow in my heart.

Lord, fill me and make me a useful servant. I don’t want to be a hypocrite who knows all the right words but doesn’t live them out or keeps them to myself and doesn’t open my mouth to teach. Help me to be looking for the opportunities You give me to do so. Let me have a willing heart to be and live broken and spilled out in service of my Savior. Those are hard things to pray. Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!