“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” John 14:26 (NKJV)
I love lists.
There’s a certain satisfaction I get when I can cross things off a list and call them finished. They motivate me to do more than I would have without one. Lists can be a useful tool in the right hands and for the right reasons.
I went to a church with a great discipleship program in the first few years of my return to the faith. In the program, I learned many spiritual disciplines that have served me well over the years. One of the important parts of the program was spending time doing daily Bible reading devotions.
In the program, I used a reading plan that took me through the entire Bible every year. It helped me focus and direct my study time at home. Over the years that I attended that church, I read through the Bible in its entirety several times.
I found over time that once I had read the plan repeatedly, it didn’t always serve its purpose anymore.
The church that developed it pointed out specifically that the disciplines in the program were not meant to be legalism. It was a tool to help develop my own spiritual discipline. The people pleaser in me looked at the reading plan and those boxes to check off as a task that needed completing, and it became legalism for me. I should have used my devotions as an opportunity to spend time at the feet of Jesus.
I felt like Martha, when I should have acted like Mary.
For a time, I gave up on my devotions altogether, because I didn’t get anything out of them anymore.
Recently in my devotional time, I prayed the verse in John 14:26, asking the Holy Spirit to lead me where He wanted me to be that day. When I started reading, He highlighted a specific phrase. It brought to my remembrance a similar verse in another part of the Bible. I used the Bible app on my phone (I use YouVersion) to look up the verse. After reading the chapter, I received an answer to a specific question I asked God that morning in my prayer time.
Learning to have spiritual discipline is important.
Without it, skipping your daily Bible devotions becomes easier. There are many things that we can do with our time. A lot of those things are even good things. But like Jesus told Martha when Mary sat at his feet instead of serving, “One thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:42 (NKJV)
We need to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to what He is telling us. Proverbs 4:22 tells us that His words are, “Life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.” (NKJV) His words are literally life for us!
Reading the entire Bible is important. You can’t remember words that you never heard. As you grow in your knowledge of God’s Word, I encourage you to let go of your preconceived ideas of what devotions “should” look like.
Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you.
As a result, you will spend precious time hearing from Jesus. I wouldn’t trade that for all the check marks on the page.
