Read your Bible every day and grow, grow, grow!Read your Bible every day and grow, grow, grow!Grow, grow, grow!Grow, grow, grow!Read your Bible every day and grow, grow, grow!
There are several versions of this song out there; this is the one our congregation sings. The children love it because of the movements, stretching as high as they can. I love it because it teaches an important lesson.
I appreciate that we are trying to impress the importance of the Bible to our children, but did you know that nowhere does the Bible command daily Scripture reading? That's right, the morning "quiet time" that all good Christian women do (ahem) is nowhere to be found from Genesis to Revelation.
I still read my Bible every day.
I mentioned last week that it is really easy to read on autopilot, and I don't always learn from what I read. To be truthful, the most fruitful time I have with Scripture is preparing for this blog. I read more deeply, make more applications to my life, and see my Savior more closely while studying for our little posts than at any other time. It's one of the main reasons I'm still here. I don't study for the blog every day, though. I'm more likely to take one or two days a week to study and write.
I still read my Bible every day.
Even though I learn more from less frequent concentrated study, even though daily Bible reading is not a command, I still do it. Why? It's partly a habit. Several years ago, I only read my Bible at church. I knew I was supposed to do better than that, but more often than not, I forgot. Or I started reading Isaiah and still didn't understand it, so I gave up. Or I just had no idea what to read, so I just didn't.
As I said, I'm a methodical person. When I made the commitment to read God's Word more often, it had to be all or nothing. I chose all. So now I keep my Kindle Fire by my bed and read every morning before I get up. This year, I'm following the chronological plan through my YouVersion app. Some mornings, I read and forget in ten minutes what I've read. Other times I think about it all day. It would be better if I remembered more, but if I weren't reading every day, I would NEVER be meditating on God's word day and night (Psalm 1:2).
That's what it all comes down to, the importance of the Word of God. We may not be commanded to read our Bibles every day, but we are told how vital it is to our lives. "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17). If the Word of God is what makes us adequate and equips us to do good works, shouldn't I be reading it? Jesus told us that the way we love him is to keep his commands (John 14:15,23-24). How can I know his commands if I've not read them? They sure aren't going to float into my mind and heart by magic!
The good news is that I can quit feeling guilty if I miss one day of my chronological reading plan. If that "quiet time" doesn't come because my son woke up at 5:15 (again), or if I just plain forget, I'm not going to immediately shrink, shrink, shrink. I don't have to read through the Bible in a year, every year. There are lots of plans out there. Helene read through the New Testament in a month recently. My sister reads the same short book every day for a week or more. I can choose any plan I like, and I don't have to read in the morning. Or even while it's quiet (cause it usually isn't quiet around here). What I do have to do is keep in mind how important God's word is to my life. If I can keep that foremost in my mind, then drinking deeply from the Scripture will be no more demanding that downing a big glass of sweet tea.
Melissa
Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), Copyright(c) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
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