Devotions are Great, But...

TESTIMONY: August 14, 2023

My time with The Lord used to be so bare, dry and rushed. If I'm being honest, the majority of the time it was a checklist item for me. My prayer life used to be shallow, infrequent and short. A lot of times, it was just me saying a quick prayer before bed. Spending time in the Bible? Ehhhh....

For years, I would try to stick to a "Read Your Bible in a Year" plan, and by January 16, when I'd inevitably gotten off track, I'd just say, "Eh, I'll try again next year." In 2018, I bought myself a study Bible and didn't put any pressure on myself to complete it. I planned to just read it at my leisure and knew I'd be done in no time. Well, I took that plan a little too literal and "at my leisure" turned into 4 1/2 years later. In that time, I figured my time spent with God was fulfilled by doing a quick daily devotional. You know those little 365 Day Devotional books? Those were my jam. I would read the little excerpt and the accompanying scripture and say, "Time with God? Check!" Except that was not time with God. That was time with someone who wrote a nice encouragement for the day that I forgot five minutes later.

Hebrews 4:12 describes the Bible as "...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."

Don't get me wrong -- I think devotionals can be a great tool to encourage your walk with the Lord, and I like to give them as gifts, but it is NOT a substitute for reading the Bible. Devotionals are someone else's take on what THEY read in the Bible. Devotionals are meant to be read WITH God's Word, not in it's own vein.

If you've never opened a Bible before, it can be intimidating trying to figure out where to start. Or maybe it's been awhile since you opened the Bible and don't know where The Lord is calling you to begin. First off, I encourage you to pray about it. Pray over your reading. When we're in the Bible, we're truly reading God's Word: "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." - 2 Timothy 3:16. This is time spent with the Lord. How awesome!!

Whether you're brand new to the Bible or are slowly dipping your toes back in, I like to encourage people to start in the book of John and read about Jesus' life, death and resurrection. Accepting salvation in Jesus is the start of the Christian walk, so why not begin by learning about the Lord and Savior who paid your death penalty so you can have eternal life? Inside you'll read all about the miracles He performed, the lives He changed, and the account of how He died and rose again. It's amazing!

Around this time last year, I wrote a blog called, "Start Reading the Bible TODAY!" It was posted shortly after I finished my 4.5 year journey to read the Bible. I wrote that I had just started back at the beginning in Genesis and was going to read a chapter a day and take notes in a notebook about everything that happens. While I'm still in that routine (currently in 1 Chronicles...a LOT happens in the Old Testament, y'all), I recently started The Bible Recap to go along with what I've already read up to this point. This is such a cool tool! Tara-Leigh Cobble provides a year-long reading plan (the difference being she doesn't label it "January 1, January 2, etc. but rather Day 001, Day 002, etc. so there's less stress to catch up if you get behind) with an 8-10 minute long podcast to recap everything you just read. Some stuff in the Old Testament can be confusing, and she breaks it down in an easy-to-understand way that I appreciate! Click HERE for more information on The Bible Recap.

Also, side note: did you know the Bible cover-to-cover is NOT in chronological order?! Tara-Leigh leads you through the scriptures chronologically.

To close this blog, I'm not saying you need to put down your devotionals. No, no -- keep reading your devotionals, just pick up your Bible with it :)