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My buddy John was talking recently about why people may or may not read the Bible.

It's a good question... and yet I think the question I want to add is what do you feel when you read a question like that?

When I first gave my life to Jesus I thought that it was part of my duty to read the Bible every day. I think part of this came from a healthy place, while other parts came from unhealthy places. For instance, I'd hear other Christians whom I looked up to talk about their "morning quiet time" and I figured I needed one of those, too, if I ever hoped to become a spiritual giant.

But then I'd fail... and concluded that I wasn't going to become a spiritual giant, let alone a spiritual midget.

Over the years I came to realize that personal pathways with God look different for everyone. For some it means a morning quiet time, while for others it's listening to the Bible while they drive to work... or taking a reflective walk in their neighborhood at the end of the day... or popping in a worship tune that has some amazing truths to it.

In other words, the goal of a "spiritual discipline" is to connect with God, not do the spiritual discipline. In a perfect world, we should be able to get to a place where you don't need the discipline at all.

Which, by the way, is what happens in heaven - all this stuff that takes work (spending time with God, praying, having stuff-free relationships) is suddenly freed up in a-broken-world-that just-got-fixed.

But on this side of heaven, the pathways aren't a bad idea... if we can keep them from becoming checklists.


So I like John's question... because like I said, it's a good one.

My approach isn't to read the Bible daily but to instead meditate on Scripture daily... the whole "hiding it in your heart" concept that involves listening and doing. Sometimes that involves reading, and sometimes that involves going back to the last thing I read and not reading anything new until I fully digest that into application.

So for what it's worth, here's what I came up with and posted to his blog...

When I let myself read the Bible, I often get great insights.

When I let the Bible read me, I often “get” a great God.