One of the hardest struggles I have had in my life of walking with Jesus has been to develop and maintain a substantial discipline of staying in the Word. I know that might shock some, since, as a pastor, all I have to do is preach once a week! So, I have all the time in the world to read the Bible!
Sorry to burst your bubble, but (and this may surprise you) pastors actually do work a full week and have just as hard a time maintaining their spiritual disciplines as everyone else! In some ways, they have an even harder time of it, because they can rationalize that “I’m doing the Lord’s work!” so if I miss a quiet time here and there, so what?!? The truth is, we are human, and we struggle as all humans do to develop and maintain holy habits.
But 19 years ago, I made the decision to read through the Bible each year. I started in 2004 at the beginning of the year. I use a different translation each year, but each night before I go to bed, I read the three or four chapters of Scripture. This is my 20th year of doing so, and the habit is so well established that I can’t go to sleep if I haven’t read my chapters!
I share this not to shame anyone, but to encourage everyone. If I can do it, trust me, you can too! Maybe not at bed time, but sometime during the day you can find the 20-30 minutes it takes to read enough of the Bible that you can read the entire Old and New Testaments over the course of the year.
Pastors, you see, are tempted to use every reading of Scripture as part of their sermon preparation. But pastors, like all people, need to be in the Word for many reasons. One is for sermon prep. But even more important, we need to be in the Word for our own spiritual formation reasons.
Reading through the Bible every year is just one of the ways I stay in the Word. Another way is by practicing lectio divina, or holy reading. This is another discipline of Scripture reading that is slower and deeper than my reading through the Bible. In lectio divina, I take a short passage (2 or 3 verses), and read it several times, slowly, and then just reflect prayerfully on one or two words or phrases that jump out at me. I linger for some time on those words, letting God speak to my soul anything He wants to say to me.
Another way to stay in the Word is traditional Bible study. Either with others or by myself, I try to be studying a book or series of books of the Bible at all times. Again, not for sermon preparation, but for spiritual formation.
Over time, I am finding that by staying in the Word, my thoughts, my desires, my plans and my dreams are coming more and more in line with God’s. When I am consistently in the Word, I find that temptations lose power and I take on more of the mind of Christ.
How do you stay in the Word? What is your plan? I’d love to hear. Drop me an email at pastorglen@thefount.church and let me know how you stay in the Word.
Blessings,
