Devotions

June 14, 2019

It was known by two different names when I was growing up; devotions and quiet time, and was instilled into me from the earliest days after I had professed faith in Jesus Christ. We were taught to read the Bible, to reflect on it, and to pray; it was best done early in the morning, preferably before breakfast, but some admitted to waiting till bedtime for them. Ten to twenty minutes each day was adequate, and skipping a day was almost a mortal sin. 

Some people think this regimen to be somewhat legalistic, and of course, it can be. but I never saw it as such, even when it was difficult to maintain the pattern. The danger in all this was more a matter of turning it into a list of things to be done each day that could be checked off like a grocery list, even if only done by rote and without any real thought. There were of course, times when devotions was just that—something to be checked off a list, and the quicker, the better. 

That temptation is still with me. I’ve subscribed to a number of Bible reading plans over the years, and when tired or facing a particularly busy day, it’s easy to breeze through the scheduled reading, close the Book, and call it good. Of course, it isn’t good and doesn’t accomplish anything of significance. Devotions...Bible reading and prayer require our full attention to be effective, and I battle with distractions, busyness, exhaustion, and plain laziness all the time. The struggle is not accidental or incidental. There is an Enemy of our souls who is more intent on keeping us from the Word than we are about getting into it. And if he can’t keep us from the Scriptures, he will settle for second-best: allowing us to be satisfied with the system instead of the Savior. 

My goal in reading and prayer is to listen in such a way that I hear what others do not and see what is beneath the surface. It doesn’t happen every time I open my Bible, but I remember that the Word of God is food for my soul, and I don’t have to get a Bible buzz every time I read to profit from it. I don’t instantly feel stronger when I eat a good meal, but I know that if I miss too many of them, I’ll get sick. I trust the process of digestion even though I don’t feel it. I trust also that the Word of God will as Scripture says, accomplish that for which it was sent forth, to the salvation of my soul.