Creating the habit
Let me start by saying this isn’t something I have nailed every single day. Sometimes I forget. If this is something that you’re struggling with, God isn’t mad at you. Of course, He wants you to read His Word. It is through His Word that He speaks to us. It is through His Word that we learn best practices for our lives, for our families, for relationships, and much more. What God wants is a heart that is willing. So, if you’re reading this blog, you’re in the right place.
Reading doesn’t come naturally to me. It’s not that I’m unable to read, I just don’t get a huge amount of joy or fulfillment from sitting down and reading. My wife on the other hand is the complete opposite. She can sit down with a 500-page book and have most of it finished in one afternoon. It genuinely blows my mind how easy it is for her. I have to be incredibly intentional to make sure that I am in God’s Word amongst other things.
When I first began to take my walk with Jesus seriously, one thing I was personally convicted on was how little time I was spending read the Bible. On a good week it would be two, maybe three times a week. Sometimes I could quite easily go weeks without ever opening my Bible. What I noticed however was I found it incredibly easy to sit scrolling through Instagram for 30 minutes or watch a 15-minute YouTube video on guitar gear.
So, what I started doing to create the habit of reading the word is I would tell myself “I’m only allowed to scroll through social media or watch that YouTube video after I’ve read my devotional for the day.” And it worked! I had a 90-minute bus journey to work, and I started to redeem my commute. I would sit down on the bus, read my devotional using the YouVersion app and once I was finished, the things that I wanted to scroll through were there as my reward.
What I found was the more I did it, the more I wanted to do it. The habit was being made and soon it shifted from it being something I had to get through to something I wanted to do. Does my devotional time look different now to how it did back then? Of course, it does! I no longer have a long bus journey to work, I have to create other time in my schedule to read the Word, but the habit is still there and working.
Prioritize your time
I used to treat reading the Bible as a super casual thing in my schedule and I’d try and fit it into my day wherever I could. Over time I would find there would be some days where I was great at doing it, and other days which were already incredibly full, and I would miss it altogether. I had no issue planning other things in my calendar. Work meetings, dinners with friends, birthday parties, haircuts. You name it, it was in my calendar. But when it came to my Bible reading, I would simply wait until I had a bit of time and just squeeze it in then. What I came to realize was if I want to grow in my relationship with the Lord and be more intentional about reading His word, I needed to be more intentional in planning WHEN I read the Word.
I remember a number of years ago sitting down with Dr. Scott Wilson who helps churches and church leaders in the area of organizational development. One of the things he would ask is, “how much of an importance do you place on your calendar? Are you only scheduling the big events, or are you booking in margin, rest time, time with family? That way when someone comes to you asking for your time, if you’ve got family time booked in, you’re already booked up.”
I took that same approach for reading my Bible. No longer did I want to just fit it in where I could, my time in the Word is a priority and should be treated exactly the same. So, if you look in my calendar, every day there is time booked in to read the word. God wants our first fruits; He desires to be a priority in our lives. We should treat reading His Word with the same respect as we would anything else that is of top importance to us. It doesn’t need to be the same time every day. I try and keep it around 8:30am, but sometimes life happens, sometimes there are meetings outside of your control. Your time in the Word is simply that, it’s your time. Where you schedule it is up to you.
Habits become lifestyles
A recent study shows that it takes between 59 to 70 days for habits to form. I like to think that this is where it changes from being a habit in training to it becoming a lifestyle. Reading the Word isn’t a destination, it’s a journey.
My wife’s Grandad has read the Bible front to back, in its entirety at least once a year for over 40 years now. He would regularly tell me that every single year it would be as if he was reading it for the first time. He’d always take away something different.
The Word of God is living and active. It’s not a one and done book. It’s one of the primary ways that God speaks to us. Through His Holy Spirit, He reveals His character through different scripture to us. The Bible is a blueprint on how to live, how to become more like Jesus which is why it is so important for us as Christians to be immersed in the Word. The more we learn about Jesus, the more we can act and respond like Him. Reading the Word isn’t for God’s benefit, it’s for ours! So, let's be intentional in creating time in our busy schedules to make sure that we’re immersed in His Word. Creating the habit, putting God first in our schedules, and remembering it’s a lifestyle not a destination. The more about Him we know, the more like Him we become.
Quick tips
YouVersion is your best friend! There are thousands of Bible plans to choose from. You can find anything from plans on marriage, to how to raise your kids, or ones specifically about worship, or the character traits of God. Find a topic you’re interested in and start there.
Read with a friend. Reading with a friend has many great benefits over reading alone, especially if you’re struggling to read altogether. It creates a sense of accountability between you, and you can help encourage each other to keep going. Plus, you will both more than likely take away different things from the same passage which you can share.
Start with the Gospels. If you’re brand new to reading the word altogether then I’d recommend starting with the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). They are generally a much easier read than something like Leviticus. Leviticus can be a great read too, and holds a wealth of truth, but not for your very first book of the bible!
Study with RightNow Media. RightNow Media is an incredible resource we have as a church that can help enhance your reading of the Word. It helps break down difficult passages and concepts with engaging content and helps bring the bible to life.
Psalm 119:105 – “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.”