When I was thirteen years old, my youth pastor preached a Wednesday night series about spending time with God. He preached that if we students called ourselves, we absolutely had to spend time studying God's Word and talking to Him. If not, then we were either not serious about our faiths, or we had none. In each unfortunate case, we weren't true followers of Jesus. He then preceded to give us an example of how to spend time with God. He taught that we simply needed to spend seven minutes a day with God, with that time divided between prayer and His Word. I was then provided with a very cool journal in which I could record prayers or take notes from my Bible studies. For the next few weeks, I read my Bible rather regularly, though not daily. After some time, apathy took over and I no longer cared to read my Bible.
A year and a half later, I was a fourteen year old at Life Action family camp in Michigan. I would be at the secluded Christian camp for three weeks. It was a gladly accepted break from my life. My best friend had recently taken herself out of my life for reasons I still do not know, and my priorities in life were sadly misplaced. The speaker for the first two weeks at camp was a splendid speaker who preached about the power of prayer and the importance of reading the Bible. He challenged those who weren't reading their Bibles to read three chapters of John for seven days. I committed myself to reading my Bible. It took my nearly two weeks to finish John, but I did. Through my reading of John, I was enamored with how wonderful the Bible truly was. It was as if for the first time, God had opened my eyes to how sweetly majestic His Word was. Even though I had "walked down the aisle" and "accepted Jesus into my heart" as an eight year old, I never knew or loved Jesus, yet alone give my life and undying love to Him.
It is extraordinary how God' Word has impacted my life. I can tell a definite difference between days I do and days I don't read my Bible. When I sit down to read my Bible, life just becomes clear. Even though I may be burdened down with something, simply reading God's letters to me makes me feel good.
There are so many wonderful things about the Bible! I love how some verses or passages seem to jump off the page and slap me between my eyes. I love the gut-wrenching, heart-revealing verses that cry out to God for help or ask why it feels like He doesn't care. I love Paul's revolutionary letters to churches that describe a Christlike life in such a plain and simple way.
On days when I just don't really care about God but I still read my Bible, there's always something that stirs up within that makes me want to live that day for God and do every little thing for Him. And when I read God's Word on days when I do want to live for Him, it makes the day more pleasant and it makes the harder things easier to endure. There is nothing that energizes me so greatly or fires me up so immensely than God's Word.
It is extraordinary how God' Word has impacted my life. I can tell a definite difference between days I do and days I don't read my Bible. When I sit down to read my Bible, life just becomes clear. Even though I may be burdened down with something, simply reading God's letters to me makes me feel good.
There are so many wonderful things about the Bible! I love how some verses or passages seem to jump off the page and slap me between my eyes. I love the gut-wrenching, heart-revealing verses that cry out to God for help or ask why it feels like He doesn't care. I love Paul's revolutionary letters to churches that describe a Christlike life in such a plain and simple way.
On days when I just don't really care about God but I still read my Bible, there's always something that stirs up within that makes me want to live that day for God and do every little thing for Him. And when I read God's Word on days when I do want to live for Him, it makes the day more pleasant and it makes the harder things easier to endure. There is nothing that energizes me so greatly or fires me up so immensely than God's Word.
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