You’re going to church.
You’re spending time with other believers.
You’re trying to avoid participating in ‘bad stuff.’
And yet – you’re at the same place you were this time last year. Stuck.
It likely has to do with your time in the Word.
Sure, I understand that your Bible doesn’t stay closed during the week. But I’m not referring to just keeping it open at church or reading a verse or two after you go through ‘Our Daily Bread’ or something similar. I’m talking about elevating your time in the Bible, God’s Word, to a whole new level, where you treat your engagement with the Bible as if your life depended on it (because, spiritually speaking, it does).
I don’t need to share statistics on how often Christians read their Bibles (you can Google it—it’s not encouraging), let alone how many Christians are truly receiving consistent, self-sustained spiritual nourishment.
Consider what Peter said about this:
So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1 Peter 2:1-3)
Peter, as an Elder/Pastor, recognized that his flock would not grow unless they took seriously this matter of good, consistent spiritual nourishment.
There are different kinds of nourishment. Just like with regular food, there is nourishment that may not be very good for you (but helps in a pinch) and nourishment that helps you and your body thrive. Imagine a steady diet of chocolate bars compared to tuna and vegetables—the impact on your life would be noticeable very quickly. It’s the same on a spiritual level.
Spiritually, we can take small bites of nourishment here and there, like a podcast or a quick devotional. That’s good, but not enough to sustain you. We can also sit and listen to a great sermon once a week. That, too, is beneficial, but it won’t carry you through the week. With everything happening in your day and the battle for your mind, relying solely on a weekly, 30-minute meal for your spiritual nourishment isn’t sufficient. To grow, you need more.
You have to spend daily, quality time in God’s Word. Let’s break that down:
- Daily. Make it a daily habit to spend time reading your Bible. Choose a time in your day when you can almost guarantee there won’t be any interruptions. If you’re anything like me, that time is usually first thing in the morning, before anyone else is awake. For me, that quiet time before 7 am is a priority. Generally, anything of significant importance that you want to ensure gets done should happen before 7 am. This is especially true for your time spent in the Word.
- Quality. How does one define “quality” in relation to the Scriptures? Admittedly, it can be somewhat subjective. However, there is certainly an element of time, focus, and intimacy involved.
Time: quality probably can’t be achieved in just 5 minutes, but it doesn’t have to take hours either. For me, about 20 minutes in the Bible, followed by 20 minutes in prayer and then 5 minutes memorizing a verse, is my daily sweet spot. Some days (or on weekends), I might spend a bit longer in one of those areas.
Focus: eliminate distractions. Avoid social media. If your Bible app becomes too distracting, switch to a paper version. I have set up a Focus Mode on my phone called Quiet Time. It activates at 5:30 am and deactivates at 7 am., stopping all notifications, etc.
Intimacy: being in the Word is about deepening your relationship with Jesus, not just acquiring Bible knowledge. It’s about understanding who Jesus is through the Word and how it calls you to become more like Him. It’s about growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ. That should be your mindset as you spend time in the Word: “Lord, use what I am reading to change me and make me more like You.” - God’s Word. Peter refers to this as the “pure milk of the Word.” The writer to the Hebrews calls it “solid food” (Heb. 5:12-14). This intake of the Word leads to spiritual maturity—a maturity that qualifies you to teach the basics of Christianity to another believer (Heb. 5:12). Unfortunately, I believe most Christians would not consider themselves capable of this, likely due to their immaturity in the Word. God’s Word. Any Christian can fall into this trap, myself included. I have addressed this by using the Word of Life Quiet Time Diary for over three decades as my daily guide to engaging with the Word. It takes me through the Scriptures book by book: quickly enough that I can finish a book in a month or two, yet slowly enough that I can reflect on the text deeply. I highly recommend it.
So, this can be another blog post – or you can allow this to throw gas on your desire for growth and make the necessary changes. I pray you choose the latter.
Scott Foreman (The Ministry Dad) is a Vice President at Word of Life Fellowship. He and his wife, Rachel, are blessed with four boys and have the privilege of ministering to couples, parents, and teens in a number of different ministry settings. The views in this blog post are Scott’s personal thoughts and not necessarily the views of the youth ministry that employs Scott.