glenna marshall

When Life is Hard, Keep Reading Your Bible

I once heard Tim Keller say that when life is particularly difficult and you’re struggling with your emotions or you don’t know how to feel about suffering, one of the most helpful things you can do is to turn to inductive Bible study.[1]

It’s interesting advice because we often feel the need to dissect our sadness, to turn it inside out in an effort to understand it. We believe that if we can just understand it, we could fix it. But life isn’t always so easily fixed. Brokenness is rarely quickly mended. Suffering is often long and draining. It’s not wrong to seek to understand our sorrows, but sometimes what we need is to turn our gaze outward. We need to look to something solid and unchanging. Someone solid and unchanging.

women reading Bible

Throughout many seasons of both physical and spiritual distress, I’ve found that regular, ordinary Bible study has been my greatest companion on the road of endurance. When I frantically spin my mental wheels trying to wrap my head around whatever trial has presented itself, the blankness in my heart and mind overwhelms me. Even recently, I sat with my closed Bible in my lap and tried to pray through some major life curveballs. After a couple of days of fruitlessly trying to understand it, I stopped. Instead of sharpening the conversations in my head that I know I’ll never have and instead of staring into space and wondering why this, why now—I finally just opened my Bible to my next chapter of study and worked through the study steps I’ve been using for fifteen years. Read, write, think, pray.

I read the text, usually more than once. I thought about the text, asking questions about the setting and context. I wrote down what I observed about the text, starting with God’s character. I prayed through the text in hopes of applying something I’d learned, which I recommend doing when you don’t know what to pray (and even when you do).

The events in the text (Isaiah 11-14 in recent weeks) were so far removed from my life that I was able to ground myself in what has been timelessly true about God’s character, His redemptive plan, and His promises that find their yes and amen in Jesus. I might have been reading about Israel’s rebellion and forthcoming judgment, the role of the Assyrian armies in carrying out that judgment, and God’s promises to save a remnant and send a Savior, but what was carrying me in my current turmoil was the golden thread of God’s sovereignty in the text. God, the faithful promise keeper. I could see specific promises made in Isaiah kept in Matthew and Acts. Can’t I trust Him to keep the rest of His promises? Can’t I look forward to the day Christ returns and makes things right—every sad thing made untrue?[2] The God of Isaiah is also the God of Romans, and His plans will not be thwarted. “He who did not spare his own Son but gladly gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32).

The daily act of opening my Bible and digging in wasn’t a distraction from my troubles. It was guidance and hope in them. The Lord gave me peace—not in changed circumstances but in the grounding of my soul in the Word of my God. He never changes. He is always true. He is the source of joy and hope. The ordinary rhythms of study directed my soul when life got really hard really fast.

I’m reminded of Jehoshaphat’s prayer in 2 Chronicles 20:12. “We don’t know what to do but our eyes are on you.” That’s what we’re doing with regular study of God’s Word. When life events leave us confused, overwhelmed, or numb, and we don’t know what to do, we must keep our eyes on Him. Keep reading His Word, thinking through it, studying it, praying it. I’ve been amazed at how even obscure passages have ministered to me in difficult seasons simply for what they showed me about God’s steady, faithful character. It’s been the description of God’s judgment and mercy in Isaiah that’s encouraged me lately, but I can remember living through a particularly difficult bout of chronic pain a few years back and finding great comfort in the drawing of the Promised Land’s boundary lines in the book of Joshua. A God who takes such care in drawing property lines would never overlook my pain. These are not normal texts to turn to in trials, but God is so kind to use His Word right where we are in life. The record-keeping in Scripture reminds me the path of steadfastness is uphill, but many saints have lived long before me and endured much worse, yet the Lord was their faithful guide. As He is mine today.

Regular Bible study might seem habitual, like a box to check on your spiritual to do list each day. But regularly turning to Scripture day after day will carry you when the mundane days turn dark. Keep seeking the Lord in His Word. The cure doesn’t really change. If you teach yourself to default to Scripture when life is normal, you’ll default to Scripture when life is hard. And the Lord will give you what you need to endure.

If you teach yourself to default to Scripture when life is normal, you’ll default to Scripture when life is hard. And the Lord will give you what you need to endure. Share on X

 

[1] I have looked for a source on this, but I believe it came from a sermon I heard years ago, and I’ve given up hope at this point of locating it. I’m sure Tim Keller worded it better than I have done here.

[2] A nod to the question of Samwise Gamgee in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, which admittedly I have not read but I did read The Hobbit and that’s good enough for me.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

You Have Time to Read the Bible in the New Year

One of the things I used to tell myself all the time was that I didn’t have enough time to read the Bible. In my mind, if I wanted to be serious about Bible reading, I’d have to get up at 5 a.m. and read for an hour. Granted, my priorities were mixed up, because if there truly was no other choice than to get up early and read for an hour, if I’d really been serious about growing in my relationship with the Lord, I would have counted the cost and done it. But I told myself and others I was just “too busy.” That went on for several years.

What finally flipped the switch for me was suffering. I got really desperate after an intense season of loss and physical pain, so I went to my Bible to understand who God was if He wouldn’t change my circumstances. I began reading the Word and while God didn’t change my circumstances, He did change me.

In the many years since then, I’ve often been told my others that they don’t have time to read the Bible regularly. It’s one of the most common excuses I get now as a Bible teacher. It might be the thing holding you back right now. But I’m lovingly calling your bluff. You do have time to read the Bible. And so did I during all those years I swore I didn’t. Here’s how I know.

I conducted a little experiment recently. Using my phone, I timed how long it took me to read the entire book of James. Reading at a slightly slower pace than normal, I read all five chapters. It took seven-and-a-half minutes. Then, I reread chapter one. It took only ninety seconds.

woman reading Bible

Sometimes when we set out to start a new habit, especially a spiritual discipline, we strive to go from a 0 or 1 to a 9 or 10. That is a surefire way to go out too strong only to burned out in a matter of days or weeks. But here’s a thought: you don’t have to be a 10 right away. When it comes to Bible reading, whether you’re starting something new or refreshing something that has fizzled out, don’t strive to be a 9 or 10 at first. Shoot for a 5 or 6, maybe. What I mean is, don’t start out with an hour of Bible reading at 5 a.m. unless this is a really, really feasible plan for you. Most of us won’t benefit from a plan like that. Not because it wouldn’t be good for us (it would be) but because if we start out too strong too quickly, we’re very likely to quit. We don’t want Bible reading for two weeks at the beginning of every year followed by months and months of spiritual malnourishment. We want Bible reading for life.

If you’re avoiding regular Bible reading because you don’t think you have time, let me encourage you: you do have time. Read James. Read the whole book once or twice a day for a month. Read a chapter several times and write down what you learn. Then move on to the next chapter. And the next book. And the next. For life. Make Bible reading a non-negotiable habit and build your life around it. I promise, you have time. If you had time to read this article, you have time to read your Bible.

If you have time to read this article, you have time to read your Bible.

If you’re planning to kick off a Bible reading habit on January 1st, may I encourage you not to go out too hard, too big, or too presumptuously? Ordinary, steady, small faithful habits will grow into a lifetime of extraordinary faithfulness. The more you read and learn and pray, the more you’ll love it. And with time, your time in the Word will increase out of true desire. That’s what happened for me. Many months of fifteen minutes of faithful Bible reading each day evolved into a regular hour of study and prayer at 6 a.m. on most days. I love that time and guard it closely. But it didn’t start out that way. A small, doable start will lay the path for decades of daily time in the Word as well as life-transforming growth because God is kind and faithful to use our obedience for good.

So, as you consider your Bible reading habits for 2026, set an achievable goal. At the first of the year, start out with simply reading your Bible regularly. You do have time. You don’t have to go out too strong, though. Spiritual growth feels slow, but it’s good steady growth. You’re not sprinting for a few weeks. You’re plodding for life. And plodding is faithful.

Photo by Sylvain Brison on Unsplash

God’s Word is Good For You

I spent most of my twenties not reading the Bible.

I was a Christian, I believed in Jesus, and I was even a pastor’s wife for the second half of that decade, but I did not have any regular habits of Bible reading. Like many churched folks, I knew that I should read and study Scripture, but I struggled to make it a priority in my daily life. When I look back at those days spent living undernourished and spiritually anemic, it’s difficult to understand why I would cut myself off from God’s appointed source of growth. Having spent all of my thirties and forties thus far with my face pressed into my Bible every morning, I know now that my ability to persevere in the faith is rooted in the sustaining grace that God gives us through His Word. To abide in Christ means to let His words live in you and to obey his commands (John 15:7, 10). If I want to remain in Christ, bearing fruit and glorifying the Father, I must live closely to Scripture.

So for such a long time, why didn’t I?

Maybe it was laziness. Perhaps it was the illusion of self-sufficiency. But boiled down to its basest form, the problem was unbelief. If I had truly believed what Scripture says about itself—what God says about His Word—then I would have bent over backwards to make sure I was saturating my heart and mind with it regularly. But I was either ignorant of its claims or doubtful of its promises—or both. Either way, if I had truly believed that God would change me through His Word, I would have read it. Though I wouldn’t have articulated it this way, deep down, I just wasn’t convinced it was that life-changing. And so, I bumbled through difficult seasons of life, unprepared for suffering and ill-equipped for perseverance. It wasn’t until I hit rock bottom and had nowhere else to look for truth that I finally opened my Bible and gave myself to what God had to say.

I know I am not unique in my struggle to make regular Bible reading a priority. And I wonder if, like me, the Christians who know they should read Scripture but don’t are, at their core, doubtful about its benefits. What can really be improved by reading old words day in and day out? Reading God’s Word doesn’t seem to bring about immediate change, so why bother? In this culture of on-demand, always-streaming, one-day-delivery gratification, we are primed to expect instant results for minimal effort. And yet, sanctification doesn’t work that way. Growth in Christ is a lifelong process that takes time and patience and the work of the Spirit through our obedience to His commands in Scripture. It necessitates a long view of faithfulness. It means committing to read your Bible with the understanding that the benefits aren’t produced or seen instantaneously. We must walk by faith for a long time in one direction, believing that God will finish the work He began in us. The issue here is what it is in every part of the Christian life: faith. We must believe that God’s Word is effective in changing us at our core, and that it is no empty word for us but our very life.

If we really believed that, we would read it.

Because God is kind and fully aware of our propensity to doubt His word, He has given us an entire chapter in the Bible devoted to the merits and value of Scripture. Psalm 119 is a celebration of Scripture. Again and again, the psalmist draws our attention to the merits, benefits, and joys of living life closely to God’s Word. Because it is such a long and thorough psalm, I could write several posts listing all the reasons why God’s Word is vital for the Christian life and still not cover them all. For now, I’ll distill them into seven reasons why God’s Word is good for us.

person holding bible

God’s Word revives us when our hearts are cold and dry.
If you’ve ever gone through a spiritually dry season, you know how tempting it is to abandon daily Bible reading. If your heart can’t feel anything towards the Lord, what’s the point? But, the best way to persevere through such a season isn’t to refuse the cure but rather to drink it down deeply. “My soul clings to the dust;” the psalmist writes. “Give me life according to your word!” (Ps. 119:25). God’s Word revives our hearts when we are fainthearted or weary. We can’t expect to feel affection for the Lord if we are not giving our hearts reasons for that affection. Meditating on God’s Word will, in time, revive our hearts and restore our affection for Him.

God’s Word comforts us when we are suffering.
When nothing else in life is certain, God is true. We can’t hold on to a promise that our suffering in this life will end when we want it to because we don’t have that promise. But we do have promises that God will be with us, that He will sustain us, and that He will use our suffering for our good and for His glory. “This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life” (Ps. 119:50). When we turn to Scripture for comfort and strength to endure, His Word gives us the hope we need. He also gives us hope in His Word that our eternity with Him will be free from any and every sorrow.

God’s Word reorients us to what is true about God.
When we distance ourselves from Scripture, we tend to process our life circumstances or societal events in a vacuum. It may be that the only voice we listen to is our own. (Or worse, the echo chambers of social media pundits.) It becomes easy to look at the world and believe lies about God. But when we view the world through what God has said about Himself, our vision is clearer and sharpened by eternity. “You are good and you do good; teach me your statues” can become the grid through which we view our lives and the world, anchoring our perceptions in God’s truth about God’s character (Ps 119:68).

God’s Word makes us wise no matter our level of education.
The psalmist writes: “I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts” (Ps 119:99-100). I love this encouragement for there is a great difference between knowledge and wisdom. Wisdom comes from God who gives it generously to all who ask, and His Word applied makes one wise for life. Living closely to God’s Word shapes your character and the way you think, which then informs the way you act, react, and live.

God’s Word helps us discern what is true so we can avoid what is false.
“Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way” (Ps 119:104). Sometimes what seems right to us may, in fact, be untrue when laid next to the plumb line of Scripture. You’ve likely heard the analogy before: to train a bank teller to identify counterfeit bills, you make them study the original. Similarly, the way we will identify false teaching is by studying the true gospel regularly. When we know what is true, we can steer clear of believing what is false.

God’s Word helps us say no to sin.
Little has helped me personally in my fight against sin like memorizing Scripture. The psalmist tells us plainly that treasuring God’s Word keeps us from sinning: “I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Ps 119:11). It’s not enough for us to stick our fingers in our ears, close our eyes, and say “I’m not going to sin!” over and over again. We say no to sin by saying yes to God’s Word! As we fill our hearts with Scripture, the desire to sin weakens, our love for worldly things is diluted, and our hearts are shaped to love what God loves instead.

God’s Word gives us joy.
“Your testimonies are my heritage forever; for they are the joy of my heart” (Ps 119:111). Sometimes we view Bible reading as a task of drudgery—another thing we have to do but don’t really want to. But anyone who has spent years faithfully abiding in Christ in the Word will tell you that Jesus was speaking the truth in John 15 when He talked about this obedience being for our joy. It took years for me to see the benefits of Bible reading in my life, but I can tell you with certainty that little else brings me joy like meditating on God’s words to us. In thinking deeply about His character, His plan for redemption, His promises to keep us until He sends Jesus for us—my heart is enriched with joy that transcends life’s sorrows. Scripture is His story. And His story brings great joy!

God’s Word does more for the Christian life that I can encapsulate in one article, not least of which is that it makes us wise for salvation. Jesus said in John 5:39 that all of Scripture testifies about Him, and reading the Bible with a gospel lens will deepen your understanding of God’s love for you in sending Jesus. If we really believe that His Word is good for us, we will read it. Not to check a box or to consider ourselves holy but to remember that God is good and He has already made us holy in Christ.

If we really believe that His Word is good for us, we will read it. Not to check a box or to consider ourselves holy but to remember that God is good and He has already made us holy in Christ. Share on X

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When Scripture Gets Stale

If you’re following a Bible reading plan, you might be feeling a little weary these days. You’ve plowed through a lot of Old Testament history and law, and there’s a good chance you’re in some very strange Leviticus material. Many reading plans keep you in Psalms year round, but if poetry isn’t your strong suit, you might find the psalms to be overwhelming with imagery, parallelism, and anthropomorphism (try repeating that list three times fast!).

All of Scripture is inspired by God and without error. It is all useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness.[1] God didn’t make any mistakes with His Word. In our humanity, though, we get overwhelmed sometimes. And more often, we get bored. That’s truer than it was ten years ago with the advent of smartphones and a bottomless social media feed. Our attention spans have reduced greatly in recent years. The desire to do something else—anything else—pulls strongly. The enemy wants you to feel like you’re wasting your time reading Scripture. He’s always looking for what he can devour.[2] Our attention span, perseverance, and interest are all potential targets. The apostle Peter’s wisdom is to be watchful, then, so that we don’t fall prey.

If you’re getting mired down in your reading, I want to give you some tips to help you refresh your mindset. If reading the Bible began to feel stale to me, here are five things I would do.

  1. Pray. I know it’s a Sunday school answer, but if you’re not asking the Holy Spirit to help you read and understand, you’re not coming to God’s Word with the proper heart attitude. We don’t come to Scripture simply because it’s on our to-do list. We come to learn who God is and to love Him better and live as people who belong to Him. Ask for help! The Spirit comforts and convicts us through God’s Word. You might be feeling stale because you’re leaning purely on your own understanding. You don’t have to!
  2. Ask questions. While deep study is different than quick reading, you can still slow down your reading a bit and deepen your understanding by asking a question of the text to help bend your mind around what your’e reading a little more. Here are a few questions you might ask:
    • What does this teach me about God? Note what you learn about His character and actions.
    • How does this text point me to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus? Consider how the text prepares you for Jesus, especially if it’s an Old Testament text and it’s not explicitly obvious.
    • When is this happening? Note where this text falls in the redemptive story of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration.
    • What do I do? Consider any commands to obey, sins to avoid, attitudes to adopt, or actions to take.
    • How can I summarize what I’ve read? Try condensing what you’ve read into a sentence or two. This will help you walk away with something you can verbalize, both to yourself and others.

3. Invite someone in. Is there a friend at church or a family member following the same reading plan you’re using? Even if you don’t live near one another, you can still discuss what you’re reading via text or a call. Bringing in another point of view or taking a few minutes to verbalize what you’re reading can help things become clearer. I’ve found that talking things out with my husband helps me get a firmer grasp on what I’ve read.

4. Change your intake method. If you’re an audio Bible user, try reading it instead. If you use a regular Bible, trying printing the text on a sheet of paper and marking it up with highlighters or pens using the above questions. If you only ever read the text, try listening to it on an audio Bible app[3] after you read. Or, listen along while you read. (I recommend putting on some kind of Do Not Disturb focus setting on your phone so you don’t get drawn into other things while using a Bible audio app.)

5. Press on anyway. Keep going. We all get in ruts, but you won’t grow to love God’s Word by quitting. You won’t grow in grace by giving up the means of growth God has given us. Keeping going! Your time in Scripture is never wasted, even if you don’t feel or see immediate results. God’s Word is living and active, and He is doing good transformative work on your heart as you persevere.[4]

Scripture doesn’t get stale, but our attitude and mindset towards it sometimes do. Taking a step back to examine both can help refresh our approach so that we keep seeking the Lord in His Word. His every word proves true, and He is shield to those who take refuge in Him, so we’re never wasting our time when we take shelter at an open Bible.[5]

Scripture doesn’t get stale, but our attitude and mindset towards it sometimes do. Share on X

[1] 2 Timothy 3:16
[2] 1 Peter 5:8
[3] I like the Crossway ESV app and the Dwell Bible app.
[4] Hebrews 4:12
[5] Proverbs 30:5

Photo by VENUS MAJOR on Unsplash

How I’m Reading the Bible in 2025

A quick scroll on any social media platform shows me one thing about the people I follow: everyone is mapping out their goals for 2025. Some are planning diets; others are beginning new exercise regimens. (Most are doing both.) Some are making financial goals or career plans. I’ve been encouraged to see many people making plans for Bible reading. Whether it’s refreshing an old goal that slipped during 2024 or continuing what we’ve faithfully maintained, we like to use the turn of the calendar as a chance for a new start.

The Slow Down Plan
While there’s always a surge in “Bible-in-a-Year” reading plans this time of year, I’d like to offer a reading plan for those who prefer to take a slower, more meditative approach to their Bible-reading in 2025. Don’t get me wrong—a plan with daily reading throughout the whole Bible is a great plan! These plans have the advantage of giving us the whole counsel of God in a set amount of time while also building in the habit of daily reading.

That said, if you’re looking for a way to read the Bible more slowly, I’ve got just the thing for you. I jokingly call it “The Slow Down Plan” because that’s what this method does for you: it forces you to read Scripture slowly, repetitively, and carefully. I’ve been using this plan for a decade, and it works for every genre of Scripture. This is the plan I will continue to use for my Bible reading in 2025. I have a weekly Bible study that meets in my home, and the women all use the same plan so we can discuss the text each week. I’ve taught the method to women of all ages, including teens, and it’s accessible for every level of learning. You can make it as in-depth as you have time and margin for.

Before you get started, you’ll need to do a couple of things first.

Gather Your Tools
Bible, notebook, pen. (I love the ESV Study Bible, CSB, and NASB.)

Choose Your Time
Pick the time of day when you can most faithfully show up to read God’s Word and pray. For many of us this will be first thing in the morning. For others, it might be that last half hour or so before bed. Or, you might choose your lunch break at work or your baby’s mid-morning naptime.

Pick Your Place
Put all your tools in one place, including a place for your coffee if you drink it and reading glasses if you wear them. Once you make your decision of time and place and have collected your tools, you only need to show up to your Bible-reading time as planned.

Begin the Plan
First, choose a book you’d like to read through. If you’re not sure where to begin, I’d like to suggest the gospel of John or the book of James. The first week of the year, read through the book as many times as you can. If you choose John, you might only get through it once. You could get through James three or four times since it’s only five chapters. The next week, start with chapter one and choose a portion to read. That might be John 1:1-14 or James 1:1-10. On day one, read the passage and follow the first step below. Day two, read the passage again and take the second step. Keep doing this until you’ve finished all six steps. You’ll notice you’ve got an extra day to catch up if you miss a day or to simply pray through the text and think about what you’ve learned.

The following week, move to the next portion of the text and repeat all the steps, one per day. Keep going until you finish the book. The symbols for the steps below simply keep you from having to write out each step each day. The process will come very naturally after a few weeks, I promise!

6 steps for Bible reading

Step 1: Make a general summary statement about the text. Write down what you think the passage is about. This can be a sentence or a paragraph—it’s up to you.

Step 2: What does this teach me about God? This is His book, His story. It’s wise to always begin with Him. We’re tempted to rush to application, but we can’t know ourselves or how to live without first knowing who God is.

Step 3: What does this teach me about man? We learn a lot about humanity and our desperate need for Jesus from God’s Word! The Bible always tells the truth about who we are. Depending on where you are in the text, you might be jotting things down about the depravity of man, or you might be looking at the intrinsic value of human life as image-bearers of God. Or, you might be comparing the differences between the old man and the new creature in Christ. Resist the urge to personalize the text for now.

Step 4: What does this teach me about Jesus? He’s in all of Scripture, so don’t skip this step if you’re in the Old Testament! We must view Scripture with a gospel lens. If you struggle to see Jesus in an Old Testament passage, look at the passage with the gospel arc and see where the themes fall: creation, fall, redemption, restoration.

Step 5: How can I apply this to my life? God’s Word is useful for teaching, training, correction, and more. If we want to live a Scripture-shaped life, we must seek to obey God’s commands. Now that you’ve viewed the passage through the lens of God and the gospel, you can personalize the text without treading into heretical or man-centric waters. We must apply God’s Word, but we want to do it in proper view of Him and His redemptive story.

Step 6: Make another general summary statement. It might feel redundant, but you’ll see how you’ve grown in your understanding of the text over the week, and you’ll have a concise way to talk about what you’ve learned with others. We don’t just study God’s Word to gain knowledge. We study to know Him and make Him known! Once you start making summary statements about what you’ve read, you’ll find that the text comes up in your conversations over and over.

Keep Going
Continue the steps for each chapter until you finish the book. Then choose a new book and start over! Bible reading isn’t a race. It’s all about the journey of studying, praying, meditating, learning, digging, and growing in our love for God. We’ll never graduate from our need for Scripture, and we’ll never run out of new things to learn about our faithful, sovereign God. His Word is a treasure and a lifeline. As you make plans to reset and refresh your habits in 2025, make daily time in God’s Word a non-negotiable. We don’t read God’s Word to tick a box or feel accomplished but to be rooted in the nourishing words of the Lord. To stand firm in adversity. To hold up under trials. To speak the hope of Jesus to others. To grow in our knowledge of and love for God and to be so certain of His love for us.

How I'm reading the Bible in 2025: The Slow Down Plan. Share on X

Daylight Saving and Spiritual Disciplines

I’ve long used January 1st as the day I’m going to get my life together. New diet? Clean slate starts January 1st. Exercise plan? I’ll begin on the first of the year. Keep the Tupperware cabinet from throwing plastic containers at me every time I open it? Organization will commence on the first day of the year. Bible reading plan? I’ll get right on that after the holidays. New Year’s resolutions are a thing because we feel like a new year is a clean slate, a blank page with nothing written on it to announce our screw-ups or failures yet.

But I think sometimes we view January 1st as an excuse to keep living life per usual, especially when it comes to spiritual disciplines like Bible-reading and prayer. We’ve made a mess of our spiritual habits to this point, we think. Might as well wait a few more months to start over. But for North American readers, I’d like to encourage you not to wait until January to start (or start again) reading your Bible and praying. Start this weekend when Daylight Saving Time ends.

Several years ago, I realized that tucked into our fall schedule is a gift for investing in our spiritual growth. Most people I know despise the end of Daylight Saving Time because it gets dark so early in the evening. As a morning person, I secretly enjoy the change. I like the dark evenings that signify the coming of winter. Growing up in the heat and humidity of the south, I start longing for cold nights in July. When we “fall back” in autumn, we “gain” an hour, so to speak, which most of us earmark for an extra bit of sleep. However, I’ve learned that the end of Daylight Saving is the best time to begin the habit of reading the Bible first thing in the morning.

Now, I’m not saying you have to read the Bible in the morning. If you’re a night owl who can stay awake to pray and study the Word, the Lord bless you and keep you. I can barely hold my eyes open past 9 p.m. For many of us, morning is the best time to open our Bibles with regularity because our days simply get away from us after we finish our morning routines. Personally, I love getting up early while my kids are asleep and the house is quiet. I make coffee, open my Bible and notebook, pray, and enjoy being with the Lord when nothing else is competing for my attention. You don’t have to be a legalist to enjoy a morning habit of Scripture reading and prayer!

But, I haven’t always enjoyed meeting with the Lord early in the morning. I’ve struggled to get up early enough for anything but a shower and a cup of coffee. I’ve hit dry spells which have tempted me to stay in bed. I’ve parented through sleepless nights with infants and toddlers as well as long seasons of chronic pain that kept me from sleep. I do understand the difficulty of getting out of bed in the morning. But here is where the time change is a gift. You’re gaining an hour that you can spend on the Lord, and your body is unlikely to protest the way it normally does.

alarm clockIf you’re used to getting up at 6 a.m., then your body will be ready to get out of bed at 5 a.m. after Daylight Saving Time ends because 5 a.m. will feel like 6 a.m. Your body won’t know the difference if you don’t let it. You’ll get tired earlier in the evening, but you can begin going to bed earlier to compensate. Take advantage of this one time of the year when getting up earlier won’t be so hard! If you don’t have a regular habit of Bible reading and prayer or have tried and failed in the past, use the gift of “falling back” to establish the habit. An hour of spiritual rest will nourish your soul more than an extra hour of sleep ever could.

To help yourself take advantage of this little “life hack,” make your plan Saturday night and do the following:

  1. Move your clocks back an hour and set your alarm an hour earlier than usual (or thirty minutes, whatever is feasible for you).
  2. Pick a Bible reading plan. You can start this 1-year reading plan whenever you want—not just on January 1st.  Or follow a guide like this.
  3. Write out a list of things to pray for each day or week.
  4. Put your Bible, notebook, pen, reading glasses, etc. in a place designated for daily study and leave them there.
  5. Prepare and program your coffee maker if you need a bit of a caffeinated boost to get going in the morning.
  6. Go to bed (not too late!) knowing you don’t have any decisions to make in the morning except to get up to meet with the Lord.

Spiritual growth is something God is pleased to bring about in our lives, and He uses His Word, prayer, and the church to cultivate godliness in us. When we spend time knowing Him through His Word and prayer, He will bring about growth. We’ll be like the happy man in Psalm 1 who was always nourished by the Word, flourishing in every season because we delighted in the Word of the Lord day and night.

And if you get off track, don’t worry. Start again tomorrow. The day is full of new mercies and God’s faithfulness.

Don't wait until January 1st to begin a Bible reading plan! Did you know it's easier to practice a new discipline when Daylight Saving Time ends? Share on X

(Author’s note: This post was originally published here on October 29,  2020.)
Photo by Ales Krivec on Unsplash

So, You Failed Your Bible Reading Plan

It wasn’t that long ago that you made your New Year’s resolutions. Remember the one about reading the Bible more? Maybe you resolved to “read the Bible every day.” This was going to be the year you were faithful, you were certain. And now that we’re nearing the end of January, you’ve already gotten behind or have quit altogether. Maybe it was that stretch of reading in Leviticus that did it. Maybe it felt too hard to wake up early on these dark winter mornings to read. Maybe you felt like what you were reading was over your head. What do you do when you’ve failed your Bible reading plan?

resolutions list

Don’t Quit.
For those of you with perfectionist tendencies, your greatest temptation will be to quit altogether. If you can’t do something well, you won’t do it at all. If you’re behind on a one-year Bible reading plan, you might be tempted to toss the whole plan and think about starting again next January. But here’s what you need to remember: a Bible reading plan is a tool, not a rule. The goal is to immerse yourself in Scripture, not to check a box each day. Who cares if you only read a portion of the Bible this year? Who cares if it took you longer than a year to read the whole counsel of God? The point is to read and meditate on God’s Word regularly, and you don’t need to clock your progress to be faithful. You simply need to make Scripture intake a regular part of your life. Don’t quit. If it takes two years or ten, keep opening your Bible and reading the words of the Lord.

Don’t Start Over.
Whether you’re three days or three weeks “behind” on that one-year plan, you don’t have to start over. Perfectionism is the enemy here. You don’t have to go all the way back to the beginning. This isn’t a board game where a wrong move sends you back ten spaces. If you’ve fallen behind in your reading, simply pick up where you left off. You could spend an hour on a Saturday catching up so you’re back on schedule, but even if you don’t finish a reading plan in the allotted time, you’ll still be reading and meditating on Scripture regularly. And that is entirely the point. Where did you leave off? Open your Bible and keep going.

Do Make a Change if You Need To.
I’ve done one-year Bible reading plans many times, and while I commend them for the way they help build a daily habit of reading, I struggle with the fast pace of the readings each day. For me, a slow, inductive reading plan is my method of choice. I’ve used what I call The Slow Down Plan for nearly a decade, and it might be what you need if your current plan feels like too much. There are lots of other study plans out there, so before you decide that Bible reading is too hard or just not for you, try making a change. Your brain might need a different pace or method for chewing on Scripture.

Do Remember Your Why
Sanctification is not a race. Spiritual growth can’t be evaluated with regular metrics. “Failing” your Bible reading plan doesn’t mean you can’t read the Bible like other Christians. God’s Word is for you, too, and the reason you’ve planned to read it regularly isn’t to check a box but rather to become more like Jesus. God uses His Word to sanctify us, to helps us grow, to teach, correct, and train. His Word was written to give us hope.[1] The more closely you live to God’s Word, the farther you’ll live from sin. The more you immerse your mind in Scripture, the more certain you’ll be of God’s love for you. The more you expose your heart to the truths of the gospel of grace, the more you’ll love the Savior who laid down His life for yours. We read God’s Word to know how to live as God’s people, beloved and made holy by Christ. When you get frustrated with your failure to keep up the plan, remember why you’re doing this in the first place. To know Christ, to love Christ, and to make Him known.

This is not a hopeless endeavor. No moment spent in God’s Word is wasted. Start fresh today. Tomorrow’s mercies are waiting for you, and God’s Word is a feast you are always welcome to enjoy.

What do you do when you’ve failed your Bible reading plan? Share on X

[1] Romans 15:5
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

 

How I’m Reading the Bible in 2024

A quick scroll on any social media platform shows me one thing about the people I follow: everyone is mapping out their goals for 2024. Some are planning diets; others are beginning new exercise regimens. (Most are doing both.) Some are making financial goals or career plans. I’ve been encouraged to see many people making plans for Bible reading. Whether it’s refreshing an old goal that slipped during 2023 or continuing what we’ve faithfully maintained, we like to use the turn of the calendar as a chance for a new start.

The Slow Down Plan
While there’s always a surge in “Bible-in-a-Year” reading plans this time of year, I’d like to offer a reading plan for those who prefer to take a slower, more meditative approach to their Bible-reading in 2024. Don’t get me wrong—a plan with daily reading throughout the whole Bible is a great plan! These plans have the advantage of giving us the whole counsel of God in a set amount of time while also building in the habit of daily reading.

That said, if you’re looking for a way to read the Bible more slowly, I’ve got just the thing for you. I jokingly call it “The Slow Down Plan” because that’s what this method does for you: it forces you to read Scripture slowly, repetitively, and carefully. I’ve been using this plan for nearly a decade, and it works for every genre of Scripture. This is the plan I will continue to use for my Bible reading in 2024. I have a weekly Bible study that meets in my home, and the women all use the same plan so we can discuss the text each week. I’ve taught the method to women of all ages, including teens, and it’s accessible for every level of learning. You can make it as in-depth as you have time and margin for.

Before you get started, you’ll need to do a couple of things first.

Gather Your Tools
Bible, notebook, pen. (I love the ESV Study Bible, CSB, and NASB.)

Choose Your Time
Pick the time of day when you can most faithfully show up to read God’s Word and pray. For many of us this will be first thing in the morning. For others, it might be that last half hour or so before bed. Or, you might choose your lunch break at work or your baby’s mid-morning naptime.

Pick Your Place
Put all your tools in one place, including a place for your coffee if you drink it and reading glasses if you wear them. Once you make your decision of time and place and have collected your tools, you only need to show up to your Bible-reading time as planned.

Begin the Plan
First, choose a book you’d like to read through. If you’re not sure where to begin, I’d like to suggest the gospel of John or the book of James. The first week of the year, read through the book as many times as you can. If you choose John, you might only get through it once. You could get through James three or four times since it’s only five chapters. The next week, start with chapter one and choose a portion to read. That might be John 1:1-14 or James 1:1-10. On day one, read the passage and follow the first step below. Day two, read the passage again and take the second step. Keep doing this until you’ve finished all six steps. You’ll notice you’ve got an extra day to catch up if you miss a day or to simply pray through the text and think about what you’ve learned.

The following week, move to the next portion of the text and repeat all the steps, one per day. Keep going until you finish the book. The symbols for the steps below simply keep you from having to write out each step each day. The process will come very naturally after a few weeks, I promise!

6 steps for Bible reading

Step 1: Make a general summary statement about the text. Write down what you think the passage is about. This can be a sentence or a paragraph—it’s up to you.

Step 2: What does this teach me about God? This is His book, His story. It’s wise to always begin with Him. We’re tempted to rush to application, but we can’t know ourselves or how to live without first knowing who God is.

Step 3: What does this teach me about man? We learn a lot about humanity and our desperate need for Jesus from God’s Word! The Bible always tells the truth about who we are. Depending on where you are in the text, you might be jotting things down about the depravity of man, or you might be looking at the intrinsic value of human life as image-bearers of God. Or, you might be comparing the differences between the old man and the new creature in Christ. Resist the urge to personalize the text for now.

Step 4: What does this teach me about Jesus? He’s in all of Scripture, so don’t skip this step if you’re in the Old Testament! We must view Scripture with a gospel lens. If you struggle to see Jesus in an Old Testament passage, look at the passage with the gospel arc and see where the themes fall: creation, fall, redemption, restoration.

Step 5: How can I apply this to my life? God’s Word is useful for teaching, training, correction, and more. If we want to live a Scripture-shaped life, we must seek to obey God’s commands. Now that you’ve viewed the passage through the lens of God and the gospel, you can personalize the text without treading into heretical or man-centric waters. We must apply God’s Word, but we want to do it in proper view of Him and His redemptive story.

Step 6: Make another general summary statement. It might feel redundant, but you’ll see how you’ve grown in your understanding of the text over the week, and you’ll have a concise way to talk about what you’ve learned with others. We don’t just study God’s Word to gain knowledge. We study to know Him and make Him known! Once you start making summary statements about what you’ve read, you’ll find that the text comes up in your conversations over and over.

Keep Going
Continue the steps for each chapter until you finish the book. Then choose a new book and start over! Bible reading isn’t a race. It’s all about the journey of studying, praying, meditating, learning, digging, and growing in our love for God. We’ll never graduate from our need for Scripture, and we’ll never run out of new things to learn about our faithful, sovereign God. His Word is a treasure and a lifeline. As you make plans to reset and refresh your habits in 2024, make daily time in God’s Word a non-negotiable. We don’t read God’s Word to tick a box or feel accomplished but to be rooted in the nourishing words of the Lord. To stand firm in adversity. To hold up under trials. To speak the hope of Jesus to others. To grow in our knowledge of and love for God and to be so certain of His love for us.

How I'm Reading the Bible in 2024: The Slow Down Plan. Share on X

Author’s note:
If you need additional tools or help, check out this page for free downloadable instructions and a video tutorial.

Daylight Saving and Spiritual Disciplines

I’ve long used January 1st as the day I’m going to get my life together. New diet? Clean slate starts January 1st. Exercise plan? I’ll begin on the first of the year. Keep the Tupperware cabinet from throwing plastic containers at me every time I open it? Organization will commence on the first day of the year. Bible reading plan? I’ll get right on that after the holidays. New Year’s resolutions are a thing because we feel like a new year is a clean slate, a blank page with nothing written on it to announce our screw-ups or failures yet.

But I think sometimes we view January 1st as an excuse to keep living life per usual, especially when it comes to spiritual disciplines like Bible-reading and prayer. We’ve made a mess of our spiritual habits to this point, we think. Might as well wait a few more months to start over. But for North American readers, I’d like to encourage you not to wait until January to start (or start again) reading your Bible and praying. Start this weekend when Daylight Saving Time ends.

pile of clocks

Several years ago, I realized that tucked into our fall schedule is a gift for investing in our spiritual growth. Most people I know despise the end of Daylight Saving Time because it gets dark so early in the evening. As a morning person, I secretly enjoy the change. I like the dark evenings that signify the coming of winter. Growing up in the heat and humidity of the south, I start longing for cold nights in July. When we “fall back” in autumn, we “gain” an hour, so to speak, which most of us earmark for an extra bit of sleep. However, I’ve learned that the end of Daylight Saving is the best time to begin the habit of reading the Bible first thing in the morning.

Now, I’m not saying you have to read the Bible in the morning. If you’re a night owl who can stay awake to pray and study the Word, the Lord bless you and keep you. I can barely hold my eyes open past 9 p.m. For many of us, morning is the best time to open our Bibles with regularity because our days simply get away from us after we finish our morning routines. Personally, I love getting up early while my kids are asleep and the house is quiet. I make coffee, open my Bible and notebook, pray, and enjoy being with the Lord when nothing else is competing for my attention. You don’t have to be a legalist to enjoy a morning habit of Scripture reading and prayer!

But, I haven’t always enjoyed meeting with the Lord early in the morning. I’ve struggled to get up early enough for anything but a shower and a cup of coffee. I’ve hit dry spells which have tempted me to stay in bed. I’ve parented through sleepless nights with infants and toddlers as well as long seasons of chronic pain that kept me from sleep. I do understand the difficulty of getting out of bed in the morning. But here is where the time change is a gift. You’re gaining an hour that you can spend on the Lord, and your body is unlikely to protest the way it normally does.

If you’re used to getting up at 6 a.m., then your body will be ready to get out of bed at 5 a.m. after Daylight Saving Time ends because 5 a.m. will feel like 6 a.m. Your body won’t know the difference if you don’t let it. You’ll get tired earlier in the evening, but you can begin going to bed earlier to compensate. Take advantage of this one time of the year when getting up earlier won’t be so hard! If you don’t have a regular habit of Bible reading and prayer or have tried and failed in the past, use the gift of “falling back” to establish the habit. An hour of spiritual rest will nourish your soul more than an extra hour of sleep ever could.

To help yourself take advantage of this little “life hack,” make your plan Saturday night and do the following:

  1. Move your clocks back an hour and set your alarm an hour earlier than usual (or thirty minutes, whatever is feasible for you).
  2. Pick a Bible reading plan. You can start this 1-year reading plan whenever you want—not just on January 1st.  Or follow a guide like this.
  3. Write out a list of things to pray for each day or week.
  4. Put your Bible, notebook, pen, reading glasses, etc. in a place designated for daily study and leave them there.
  5. Prepare and program your coffee maker if you need a bit of a caffeinated boost to get going in the morning.
  6. Go to bed (not too late!) knowing you don’t have any decisions to make in the morning except to get up to meet with the Lord.

Spiritual growth is something God is pleased to bring about in our lives, and He uses His Word, prayer, and the church to cultivate godliness in us. When we spend time knowing Him through His Word and prayer, He will bring about growth. We’ll be like the happy man in Psalm 1 who was always nourished by the Word, flourishing in every season because we delighted in the Word of the Lord day and night.

And if you get off track, don’t worry. Start again tomorrow. The day is full of new mercies and God’s faithfulness.

Don't wait until January 1st to begin a Bible reading plan! Did you know it's easier to practice a new discipline when Daylight Saving Time ends? Share on X

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Hope for the Slowly Sanctified

Do you ever look at your life and think, “This isn’t who I thought I’d be by now?”

Maybe you thought you’d be more faithful, more studied, more patient, more self-controlled, wiser, holier, kinder. Maybe you hoped that after all these years some of those things you really hate about your old self had stayed dead instead of resurrecting a thousand times over. How can I have walked with Jesus for such a long time and still be this version of myself? This old man-new man business is harder than I thought it would be.

man standing and waiting for train

I am memorizing 1 Peter and studying the book of Acts at the same time. It’s been a true joy to observe the metamorphosis of the apostle Peter. We like him because in the gospels he’s impulsive and salty, fiercely loyal while also cowardly two-faced. We identify with him. But we see how much Jesus loves him and forgives him when loyalty mattered most. On the other side of Peter’s betrayal, Jesus restores him and gives him kingdom work to do. It gives us hope for ourselves. Maybe He can use me, too. The Peter of the gospels is the one we see ourselves in. We want to walk on water, but we lack the faith to ride out the waves.

When you get to Acts, you see a different Peter. He’s probably still got some of that impulsivity, but it’s tempered with wisdom. The resurrection of Jesus has changed Peter. That zealous passion is tested and found true on the other side of the resurrection. He will make Christ known no matter the cost. The religious leaders at the temple tell him repeatedly to stop preaching Christ, and Peter doggedly defies them every time. He boldly proclaims the gospel. He rebukes sin in the church. He’s beaten and jailed but counts it joy to have suffered for Christ. This is a different Peter.

In his first epistle, you see the wisdom born of his suffering. Everything is a sacrifice worth giving for the sake of making Christ known. There are some things in this life you simply can’t learn apart from necessary suffering for a “little while,” but even our trials can’t compare with the glory that will be revealed when Christ returns. Peter is full of faith and hope, his heart fixed on the day when Jesus comes back. It’s a little hard to reconcile this Peter with the one who cut off a guy’s ear in Gethsemane, with the one who tried to turn Jesus from the path to the cross, with the one who sank in the sea though its Maker was right there with him. But here’s what’s happened to our salty fisherman: he spent years with Jesus. He learned from Him, listened to Him, watched Him. Peter witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration, death, resurrection, and ascension. He dropped his nets on the day Jesus called him, and the Lord initiated a metamorphosis that only comes from living closely to Christ.

Even the temple leaders—the ones so annoyed and irritated by his incessant gospel preaching—realized that the man who stood and connected the Old Testament prophecies to the carpenter’s son from Nazareth couldn’t have been so learned were it not for the fact that he “had been with Jesus.” I’ve noticed Peter’s inclination to refer to Jesus as the living stone, the cornerstone, chosen and precious. You see it in his sermon in Acts 4:11, and you see it in his writing in 1 Peter 2:4-6. What was it about Psalm 118:22 and Isaiah 28:16 that meant so much to him that he preached and wrote of those passages? Jesus. They were about Jesus and that knowledge had changed Peter’s life—it was Jesus all along.

The change in Peter seems quick to us as we turn the pages of our Bibles. Here he’s betraying Jesus and there he’s standing in the temple proclaiming the same name after being beaten and jailed. But it took years for Peter to be sanctified, same as us. His metamorphosis from sinner to saint, from old man to new man, from shedding his old ways to embracing his new identity in Christ—it took time. Sanctification is a slow process, but the key here is exposure to Christ. It is not simply the passage of time which makes us more like Jesus. It’s living closely to Him that in time makes us like Him. Let us take comfort from Peter’s sanctification. You might have hidden in cowardice when you could have proclaimed Christ, but today is a new day to be who you really are in Jesus. You may not be the version of yourself you’d hoped to be by now, but as you spend time listening to the voice of Jesus in Scripture, in prayer, in fellowship with His people, you will become like Him. Slowly. But surely.

Here’s some hope for the slowly sanctified: walking with Christ will change you. Keep walking with Him. He will finish what He started.

Here’s some hope for the slowly sanctified: walking with Christ will change you. Keep walking with Him. He will finish what He started. Share on X

Photo by Aren Nagulyan on Unsplash

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