I have been talking about my Bible study group and how much it has helped me understand the Scriptures more. As I shared recently, we’ve been reading one book of the Bible a month, sometimes two depending upon how long (or short) they are.
At first the legalism mentality reared its ugly head. If I’m not reading my Bible every single day, I’m not doing it right. Then I remembered God isn’t about rules, He wants a relationship. And if I can read the Bible more slowly and understand and put into practice what I’m reading better by doing it five days a week, that’s way more important than reading it every single day and walking away five minutes later not remembering a thing I just “read.”
Today I want to encourage you. If you think having a daily quiettime is intimidating and you don’t even know where to start, might I suggest taking a month that has 31 days in it, and reading one chapter of Proverbs every single day. If you fall behind, that’s okay. Pick up where you left off and take 5 weeks, or two months to read it all the way through.
If you think reading the whole Bible is intimidating, then find one or two friends to “read a chapter a month” with you. By the end of one year, you will have read 12 books of the Bible (or more)! That’s 12 chapters you wouldn’t have read if you hadn’t gotten started.
It’s never too late to start. Failing to start means you might be missing out on some blessings God wants to give to you. Starting too fast could be discouraging or you could miss the richness of the Scriptures because you’re hurrying through them.
Find a pace that works for you. Find one or two friends who have the same goal as you – growing closer to God, not speed-reading the Bible as fast as possible.
However you decide to do it, remember, it’s never too late to start, unless you choose not to start at all.
© Cheri Swalwell 2021