Sunday morning. I finished preaching at MCC, closed my Bible and sat down. I thought to myself “I love this book. I love the way it encourages me. I love the way ot challenges me. I love the way it teaches me about great love. And I love the way it is changing me.”
But it was not always so. I didn’t always like the Bible. I was a Christian. It’s just that the Bible was dry and boring. Reading it was something I did to ease the guilt. So how did I get from dreading the Bible to loving it? Here are some things I did (and am doing) to love this book. Do these, and you can turn a page full of ink into the greatest book in the world.
1. Read it. Seriously. Do you expect the word to jump in your face and read itself to you while you are brushing your teeth? Set aside a few minutes each day. The simplest and most effective way I have seen to do this is through Life Journaling. I am an avid fan of Life Journaling.
2. Speak it. You should have some people in your life that you are sharing scripture with. Just saying “This is what I read today and it kicked my butt” has some power.
3. Do it. When you sense God telling you to so something when you read, do it. Stop making excuses and do it.
Let me be honest. I am a Pastor. I get paid to love God. Even at that, I don’t always roll out of bed and say “I can’t wait to crack open the work and see what God has for me today.” Sometimes it is a struggle. Sometimes it is dry. Sometimes I walk away with very little. But sometimes my world is rocked. And the more he speaks to me, the more I want to hear him.
Start small. How about a commitment to read the word for 3 minutes each day this week? It may eventually lead you to the place where you say “I LOVE this book.”
By the way – the message Sunday was a clear message of the Gospel straight from the book of Romans. You can check it out here (click on GSPL 01)
photo by dtcchc