The Child of God and the Word of God

The apostle Paul chastised the believers at Corinth for not being mature enough to receive the meatier teachings of God: “But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh” (1 Cor 3:1-3). I’m not sure that many Christians would fair much better than the Corinthians. So many things have crowded into our schedule that there is little time left for meditating, memorizing, reading, and studying the word of God.

Let me offer a couple of tips for busy people who want to be in God’s word. First, consider redeeming your driving time by listening to the Bible. You can purchase the entire Bible on CD. It’s a little expensive, but a great investment. If you can’t afford to make a large investment, you can buy individuals CD’s of the Bible at the Dollar Tree for $1. If you have an iPod, there is a free daily podcast of Bible readings (http://thebiblepodcast.org/podcast/). Second, consider making a schedule for Bible reading. If you planned 10 minutes a day, by the end of the first week you would have completed more than a hour of Bible reading. Who can’t spare 10 minutes? And yet what an improvement 1 hour of Bible reading would be to the devotional life of some believers.

Most importantly, if God is to be a priority in your life—which is a necessity if you are to worship God—then consider marking off a significant amount of time each week to be in His word. I want to encourage you to read Psalm 119. David had a passion for the word of God and in this Psalm it comes through with great beauty and clarity. Each time I read it, I am refreshed and given a renewed desire to be in God’s word. If you will take time this week to read and reflect on this passage, it may be the start of a personal revival in your life and you more deeply commit yourself to enjoying God’s word.