It is a good thing to desire to read the Bible.
Reading the Word of God is a spiritual discipline I have developed over the years walking with the Lord. In fact, I am just about to finish a plan I started last year reading carefully and thoughtfully through the entire Bible.
Taking in entire passages daily has been a joyful experience. I also take time to dissect a smaller passage of Scripture and meditate on those words as well.
There is so much to digest and it never gets old.
For those of you that long to have this built in discipline in your day to day, let me share a couple of tips that can help you.
Firstly, the more you read the Bible and meditate on it, the more you will want to read it. And the more you will understand what you are reading.
Include Bible reading when you spend time with the Lord. We often want to say our prayer requests to the Lord and share our hearts, but we lose time to just sit and give opportunity for Him to speak to our hearts. Reading the Word gives space for that to happen. God speaks often to us through His Word.
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12, ESV
Be sure to have a mindset that reading the Bible is a joy and not a chore. Some of us have been brought up to read something as a child that we did not understand. Without that understanding the joy in it can be hard to find. This gets ingrained in our brains as something we do not like to do. Tell yourself it is a joy and that you get to read His words!
Living overseas with my husband, I realized easy access to the Bible was not an option for everyone. This reality changed my perspective with the activity of reading God’s Word. His Word is a gift to us. If we neglect this gift, we only have ourselves to blame.
Reading the Word of God out loud can re-ignite your spirit once again. If you are feeling burnout, feeling far from God or having to endure a hard time, give time to reading the Bible. It is a spring in the desert that truly never runs dry.
Because there is so much to gain from regularly reading His Word, make it a habit to read each day. Choose the same time and place to meet with God. At times it will feel like you are checking a box, thinking to yourself that it should not feel this way and maybe you should abandon this habit. But let me encourage you to not do this.
Daily coming to meet with God and daily reading the Bible, whether I feel like doing it or not, has grown to be a habit that is truly a part of me. I cannot see myself not spending time with the Lord or not pouring over His Word. It defines my relationship with Him. And He knows I will show up each and every day.
Any good habit and discipline we build into our lives begins with a choice and then the desire to do so will follow. If you long to grow closer to the Lord, to understand His Word more and to learn to hear Him more clearly, this discipline will help bring that into your life.
It is basic, it is simple.. but it is ever so powerful.