Hosea 11 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) 3 “Yet it was I who taught Efrayim to walk;I took them by their arms.But they did not know that it was I who was healing them,4 who was guiding them on through human means with reins made of love. With them I was like someone removing the yoke from their jaws, and I bent down to feed them.
No Time!
Do you sometimes wonder how to integrate some Bible reading into your full, packed, and tight schedule? Does it gnaw just a bit that you feel the call to know more about the Bible, but time is never on your side?
The stress of time passing and the empty well of our soul is dragging at us when there is no time devoted to filling up with God's word.
I use to make small efforts here and there. I made excuses and cuddled with those excuses of why I couldn't eek out just a bit of time to read God's word. Others made it seem so simple to carve time out.
I started looking on Pinterest one night on how to study the Bible. Wow is about all I can say. There were so many elaborate ways. Ways that seemed so time intensive and overwhelming. It left me feeling guilty and defeated. As you can imagine, I quickly abandoned the idea of Bible studying and reading on my own. Which left me worldly minded and well dry. I became more selfish with out really realizing it. I needed the word of God badly and didn’t realize. Like silent high blood pressure that can kill, I was sick and without the right medicine in a dose I could handle.
One hot Houston day, a friend phoned me while I was shopping at the Home Goods store. Love that place, right?! 😊 She quickly told me I had won an iPad Mini from a work raffle. I seriously thought she was joking. I didn't typically win things like that. She reassured me and the next day it was in my hands.
God works in amazing ways. He knew how badly I needed to change and grow. He knew I needed His holy word. Little did I know that that iPad was going to bring me back to the Bible in an amazing way.
I don't even remember how it happened. One day I was downloading YouVersion Bible App on the iPad and I was listening to the Bible during every chore. Every basket of laundry, every load of dishes, every mundane thing, I turned my app on and let the word wash into me. I managed to, for the first time ever, listen/read the entire Bible.
You might be wondering how you could pay attention and actually glean anything. Will your mind wander and not retain anything? The answer is, yes. Yes, your mind will wander. Yes, you will have to replay a section again another day. Or maybe just let it keep going.
I heard a story one time. I wish I knew where or I would reference who said it. And if you know please post in the comments. But, the story goes that a man complained to his pastor that he can't remember the Bible so he just doesn't bother to read it anymore. The pastor handed him a basket and told him to go fill it with water 10 times. The man complained and exclaimed that no water would hold. He was convinced to go about the task anyway. He returned only to show the pastor that the basket held no water. The pastor quickly pointed out how clean the inside of the basket was anyway.
I've experienced that just listening during mundane tasks like showers, my runs, and my chores allow me to wash my mind. Reset my mind and soul with God's word. There is something so powerful and trans-formative about the word of God. No matter if a passage is not fully understandable. Highlight it and research it over a weekend morning when your schedule is less full. Or shoot your pastor a note to ask for clarity.
I also have put up verses in the bathrooms so that our lives are surrounded by the word of God. Ever present and ever before me, it is taking me to a deeper relationship level with God.
This might sound like one step to many. Okay, spend 5 minutes each day this month listening to the Bible app read to you on your drive to work or your shower time. Take small steps to washing in The Word. Create the blessed life through a mindset shift. You are worth the it. It will enhance your life in ways you can't even imagine.
"You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up." Deuteronomy
Tomorrow is wordless Wednesday. We will feature and original photo shot by Diane Bryant in Alaska. A link to her Facebook page will be included. If interested in purchasing her work, please feel free to PM her.
