By: Jenifer Metzger
You recently saw an ad for a new face serum that claims to do wonders for a woman's skin. You do some research and find this beauty product is clean, made by a wonderful and trustworthy company, moisturizes skin deeply, helps with fine lines, and brightens the skin. It sounds perfect! You read the reviews to see that hundreds of women have used this product and had wonderful results. So you decide to give it a try.
You place the order and patiently wait for the serum to arrive on your doorstep. Then, the day comes. The delivery driver rings your doorbell and when you open the door you see a little box containing your serum. You cut the tape on the box and pull the serum out. Then, you take the serum to your shelf and place it just so. However, you never open the little glass bottle and use the serum.
Sounds crazy right? Why purchase the product and never use it? You don't get benefits just from researching and purchasing. You have to actually open the bottle and use it.
The same goes for your Bible. You don't get benefits from just owning a Bible. You have to actually open the Bible, read it, and apply.
The Bible is God's gift directly to you. He inspired and breathed every single word in the Bible for you. You need the Bible for teaching, instruction, rebuking, and comfort. But if you never open it, what good is it?
Joshua 1:8 tells us to keep the Bible on our lips, to meditate on it day and night, and to do everything written in it. It doesn't tell us to purchase a Bible and put it on the shelf for a decoration. As women, we are busy. We go from one season to the next thinking life will one day slow down, yet all we find is the next season is just a new busy. But in the busyness of life, we cannot forget to intentionally make time for the Bible.
Make a plan. Make a plan that works for you. Personally, I read the Bible in the morning after I've gone on my morning walk. This is the best time of day for me to sit down in the quiet and focus. For you it may be while the kids nap, or maybe in the car at lunch, or maybe after dinner while the kids do homework, or maybe right before bed at night. Whatever works for you, just be intentional with a plan and read.
Limit distractions. If you have little ones around, it can be hard to limit all distractions. With littles, often our Bible time includes the melody of a cartoon in the background or the jingle of toys. But you can limit the distractions of devices. Turn your phone off or leave it in another room. Turn off the tv (other than a children's show to occupy the kids). We can't always remove all distractions, but we can limit as much as possible so that we can focus.
Leave your Bible open. I used to keep my Bible in a basket in my living room. After reading, I would put my Bible back. I've come to where I leave my Bible out in the kitchen. This way I can go back to it throughout the day to reread and meditate on a verse I read that morning. Or sometimes I will flip to Psalm and read a verse or two. Leave your Bible out and purposely go back to it throughout the day.
Great encouragements. We have such a treasure that people in other countries and in the past didn't have access to. And too often it's neglected.
ReplyDeleteI wrote this week about things we can keep in mind when the world's burdens become too heavy: https://barbaraleeharper.com/2021/08/24/when-the-world-weighs-heavy/.