It was an early Tuesday morning and as I sat in my home library, I held the Bible in the air and brought it to my lips and kissed it. I didn't know our middle daughter, Lauren, was watching me lavishly embrace God’s Word. She seemed repulsed and asked, “Dad, what are you doing kissing the Bible?”
I asked her, “Lauren, when Ernie Els wins the British Open or Roger Federer wins Wimbledon, what do they do with their trophy? They hold it in the air and kiss it. Why? Because it is their prized possession. It is what they cherish the most. God’s Word should be our trophy! Our most prized possession! The book we cherish the most!”
To love God’s Word, I would suggest that you have to spend time reading it. One of the most common obstacles to spending time in God’s Word is busyness; busyness is the number one enemy of intimacy. If you want to develop an intimate relationship with God, spending time in God’s Word is essential.
Andy Stanley recently shared that when it comes to studying God’s Word, you have to be disciplined around three things: time, place, and plan.
Time
Time simply means to choose a time during the day when you will spend time in God’s Word. Isn't it true that you schedule the things that are the most important to you? One of the most important decisions you will make about having a devotional time is to choose a time during the day. Anybody who is consistent in Bible study has decided,I am going to make time with God a priority by setting a time to meet with Him every day.
Place
Pick a spot where the only thing you do is spend time alone with God. It can be a chair in your house, or it might be in your car in the morning before you go into your office. The point is to regularly find a place. You might ask, “Why is choosing a time and a place important?” There are simply certain environments where we listen better and there are specific times during the day when we listen better.
Plan
As you sit with God’s Word in your lap, what about a plan? I would suggest a simple one: read, write, and pray! Read a chapter, or a paragraph, or a verse for the day. After reading your selected Scripture for the day, answer the following three questions:
- What does the passage say?
- What does it mean?
- How does God want to change me?
Next, write in your journal. Trace your relationship with God through journaling. You probably won’t journal every day. This is about your struggles, victories, temptations, and failures. Journaling is a record of what God has done in one single life—yours.
Finally, pray. Prayer is not a conversation with God, but communion with God. After you have prayed through your list, I encourage you to sit silently and tell God you want to hear from Him. This is your chance to take out a piece of paper and whisper to God, “I’m listening and I’m taking notes. Now tell me everything you want me to know.”
You were created to have fellowship with God. Your devotional life is vital to your spiritual life.
