There has never been a time in history when Christians have had more Bible related resources available at their fingertips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are incredibly blessed to have so many Christian resources so readily available to us.\u00a0 Yet, Bible teachers, podcasts, and books should never replace the personal and exclusive time each of us needs daily with God through His Word.\u00a0 The main purpose for Christ\u2019s life, his crucifixion, resurrection and ascension, is for us as individual believers to personally connect with God daily through His Word.\u00a0 God\u2019s Word is ultimately our source for life and light. (Matthew 4:4; Psalm 119:105)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019ll probably not be surprised that the amount of time the average person spends personally reading the Bible on a regular basis is tragically low.\u00a0 (Only 11% read the Bible daily and only 16% read the Bible 4-6 times a week.) [iv]<\/a>\u00a0 A Lifeway research study of churchgoers found that \u201cwhile 90 percent \u2018desire to please and honor Jesus in all I do,\u2019 only 19 percent personally read the Bible every day<\/em>.\u201d [v]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Reformation changed the world largely due to<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n the Bible being put into the hands of the everyday believer.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We know that \u201caccessibility to the Bible<\/em>\u201d is not an issue for any of us.\u00a0 Our issue is \u201cprioritization of our time in the Bible<\/em>\u201d.\u00a0 And yet, we all know this is easier said than done.\u00a0 The pace in our world is unprecedented.\u00a0 We are squeezed daily with unrelenting demands and duties that far exceed the hours in a day.\u00a0 However, unless we prioritize what\u2019s important, the tyranny of the urgent sweeps us into the world\u2019s current of crisis management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The powerful pressures of the world you and I experience in our daily lives are no surprise to Jesus. He warned us in the Parable of the Sower that it\u2019s easy for people to be \u201coverwhelmed with worries about all the things they have to do and all the things they want to get. The stress strangles what they heard, and nothing comes of it.<\/em>\u201d (Mark 4:10 MSG) At the height of his ministry, no human being experienced higher demands on their time than Jesus, yet he prioritized and protected his time with the Father. (Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16)<\/p>\n\n\n\n What if we followed Jesus\u2019 example and prioritized and protected our personal daily time with God?\u00a0 What if we had a \u201choly resolve<\/em>\u201d to commit at least 7 minutes a day to reading Scripture and prayerfully listening to God for at least one lesson that we can apply from His Word to an issue we\u2019re facing that day?<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you did this, consider the number of lessons you would have personally learned directly from God for your life! The average life expectancy in the U.S. is 80 years old, so if you started investing just 7 minutes a day alone with God\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s never too late to start and God promises that His Word will teach \u201cus what is true\u2026useful for correcting our mistakes\u2026(and) useful for making our lives whole again<\/em>\u201d. (2 Timothy 3:16 NIRV)<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you would like personal help, insights or additional resources on how you can develop a lifestyle of personally investing at least 7 minutes a day with God, contact me at joe@bleonline.org.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [i]<\/a> www.learnreligions.com\/christianity-statistics-700533<\/p>\n\n\n\n [ii]<\/a> Blubrry Podcast Directory<\/p>\n\n\n\n [iii]<\/a> Pew research<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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