Every Monday at our staff meetings, we report how many
days we have read during the past week.  It is a way we can keep one
another accountable.  It also puts in emphasis on the importance of
going to God and Scripture for personal devotion, something we all value as a staff.

Many times when
working for a church, or especially during Bible College, the Bible
just becomes a resource for work or class.  There is great value in
that time and research, but reading apart from work and school is
critical to have a good relationship with Jesus.

That being said, my strategy has helped so far.  I just decided to read from beginning
to end so that I never sit down and wonder what I am going to read
next.  Today I should be finishing 2 Chronicles and moving on to Ezra,
which I am looking forward to.

By reading from the beginning, you can really see the relationship between God and people shift dynamically.  God always wants the best for his people, but those people do not always care.

Why write about this?  I am not
trying to say that I am better than everyone else because I read
daily.  I am writing because I want everyone to know how beneficial it
is to read.  There are times that I do not really get what is going
on.  And there are times that I am hardly focused.  But I have no
doubts that God will bless that time set apart to read Scripture.

Everyone should be in Scripture and prayer day to day.  The value is immeasurable.

Why have I never really read consistently?  While pondering this question I cannot but help think back to my Bible College days.  You would think that reading Scripture would just come naturally and be part of you everyday experience, especially for someone training for ministry.  Unfortunately that is rarely the case.

What tends to happen is the Bible becomes another textbook that is used to write papers and complete reading assignments.  So yes, I did read all throughout college.  But no, I did not have a regular time for personal devotion to the Word.

Since starting to read on a regular basis for my own devotions, I have had the joy of seeing a strong nation conquer, then collapse, and then be rebuilt.  The Old Testament has proven to be one exciting place to read.  If I were to go back to Cincinnati Christian University, Old Testament classes would be filling my schedule more than other topics.

My routine throughout the entire winter has been to wake up before my wife and brew a freshly ground pot of coffee in my french press (yes, I am a coffee snob), and then sit down and enjoy the Jewish history which predates Jesus.