Three ways we can put the Bible first

I have no doubt that we all say we want to do this. Most of us even start our year strong when it comes to our Bible reading. But then we lose momentum. Or we get sidetracked. Or something else happens that causes us to go off the rails on a reading plan and we don’t really know how to get back on it.

Sound familiar? It’s okay if it does. This is something that we all struggle with, no matter how mature or faithful a Christian—reading the Bible can be a struggle. So how do we make sure we’re putting it first? Let me suggest a couple of ways:

1. Remember that reading Scripture is an act of war. The “cosmic powers” and “evil, spiritual forces” of this age (Eph. 6:12) don’t want us reading this book. It is a book that changes people. It is a book that takes our eyes off ourselves and puts them on Jesus. That is a dangerous thing in any age, not just this one. Expect resistance, and pray that the Lord would help you to read faithfully.
2. Restore boundaries for devices. I am by no means anti-technology, but boundaries really do matter. It’s easy to go into our reading time and be sucked into a blackhole of awesome (or more likely awful) by a few stray notifications. So if we’re prone to distraction and use an app to read the Bible, maybe it’s time to consider replacing our app with a physical Bible as our primary means of reading God’s Word.
3. Rejoicing in small things. Too often we come to Scripture expecting to find something revolutionary—the one verse that will change everything for today. And you might find that, but you might also find one that seems straightforward like Proverbs 19:9 (“A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies perishes”). When we don’t get the mountaintop moment when we open the book, when angels aren’t singing and the earth isn’t quaking, we can feel a little let down. But there’s always something useful in Scripture for us. It is always profitable. It always helps us to grow in godliness and equips us for every good work. But we might not always see how what we read now affects how we live later. So don’t sweat it. Have patience. Thank God that He speaks to us, that we can know Him, and keep going. 

This is not mind-blowing stuff, obviously. If anything, it may seem a little on the obvious side. But that’s the point. We know what it takes to keep reading the Scriptures. So let’s pray that He would help us to remain faithful, even when it’s hard.