All to Him I Owe

Many of our congregation have made it a goal to read their Bible everyday this year. As we finish our first month of the year and evaluate our progress let me give you four D’s that have been a personal help to me this past month.

Destination:

Pick the place where you read your Bible carefully. A well chosen spot can make or break your devotional time. Even our Lord worked hard at pulling away from the busyness of his surroundings to find a quiet destination to commune with His Father. There are three things to filter your destination through:

1. Consistency – is it a place that you can regularly go?
2. Comfortable – is it a place you like to go and stay?
3. Care free – is it a place where the distractions are limited?

Depend on God:

Start your time in the Word of God with prayer. Ask God for help in the practical’s:

1. To keep your destination quiet and interrupted
2. To keep your mind focused
3. To give you understanding
4. To help you repent as needed
5. To help you remember what you have read

Defined Goal:

Upon arriving at your destination, define your goal! This consists of knowing how much time you have, how much you want to read, and what you want to achieve during the time you are there. I personally recommend having the goal of walking away from my Bible reading with one thought about the character of God that I can meditate on through the day.

Definitions:

This may seem funny, but keep a dictionary near you while you are reading. Use the dictionary to help you define the words you are reading and do the personal work of trying to create memorable definitions for words, and concepts that you are studying. Recently I was reading Hebrews 12:15 and began to work through a definition of bitterness. The definition I created was “Bitterness is the emotion that accompanies my refusal to accept an unfulfilled expectation and now keeps me from seeing the grace of God in my surroundings.” This definition is not comprehensive but it has been a huge help in my meditation on this topic. Use your dictionary, right definitions down, and you’ll find it easier to walk away from your Bible reading with something to meditate on.

Stay faithful! You can do this!