Scripture

Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly.

~1 Timothy 4:7, NLT

Quote

All believers should have a ever increasing desire to know Christ better and to be like Him as much as possible.

~Donald S. Whitney

For most of my life I was like the farmer who went out to collect the eggs but on the way, he saw something that needed to be fixed and so he stopped to fix it. He went from one thing to another and never collected the eggs. Spontaneity has its place but it can be a deterrent to spiritual disciplines like daily bible reading or a quiet time. Spontaneity is sporadic which is the opposite of consistency. Training one’s self to be godly requires personal discipline. One of our grand sons is a trainer. He runs a gym in Moulton. He has a regiment of exercises he does every day. You can look at him and tell that he sticks to his diet and he does his exercise. No one stands over him and makes him do these exercises. He has set some goals for himself and he disciplines himself.

You can begin now to read your bible daily. It is not a time issue: the issue is discipline. Make yourself a goal. Let’s say, it is to read the bible through in one year. What path or plan can you help you achieve this goal. Read three chapters a day; two in the OT and one in the NT. Get an easy to read version. Do not start with the Geneva Bible or the King James. Set a time for reading and make notes as you read. If you miss a day, forget it and take up the next day where you left off. You don’t stop eating when you miss a meal and so you don’t stop reading when you miss a day. Before the year is up, your daily bible reading will become a habit.

By the time you get into your third year of reading daily it will have become a passion {something you love to do}. You might know I picked one of the easiest discipline there is: reading the bible is easy and delightful but prayer is more difficult for me. To be honest, evangelism is my weakness in the spiritual disciplines. I can stay in my building all day reading, praying, writing and preparing sermons. Ministry is also a passion for me, but evangelism is not. I have to be intentional about sharing the gospel. I am not much of a fisher of men. The bad thing is the older I get the less I like crowds. I have a tendency to avoid crowds and traffic. I am content to stay at home. I don’t even want to go to Hartselle.

In any discipline, we make ourselves do something that needs to be done, but it not something we necessarily want to do at the time. It is getting to the point that mowing the lawn is a discipline. We train ourselves to be godly. You will decide if you begin a daily quiet time. You will determine whether are not it becomes a habit and then a passion. Discipline is on YOU! It’s on me too.

Extra

You know you’re getting old when a trip to Music City gives you out. I’m about like the old boy who wouldn’t get out of bed on Sunday. His wife kept telling he had to get up and get ready for church. Finally he said, “Why?” She said, “Because you are the pastor.”

Dana’s father {Doug Collins} may get to go home today. June and I will check on Christy on the way to Mid-week services tonight. Continue to pray for our cancer warriors. Christy and Charity Clark, Lincoln Kallas and Doug Collins. Doug is 81 and he has refused cancer treatment. I do not blame him.

Extra/Extra

Tips on making Daily Bible reading easier and more exciting

1. Make sure you are reading a translation in modern English.
2. Underline, highlight and make notes. Journal your insights.
3. Use YouTube in difficult passages with lots of names that are hard to pronounce. YouTube has audio bible in the KJV, NIV, ESV, and now Contemporary English. Follow the text as the professionals read.
4. Go to your index and check off the books that you have completed.
5. Do not get overly concerned about time or the number of chapters you read. Focus on hearing what the LORD is saying. If you get in a hurry and read just to check off chapters, you will miss the point.
6. After you have read the bible through once begin to focus on the NT and the gospels and the Psalms. I read the Psalms twice a year and Proverbs at least once. I try to read the gospels four times and the NT twice to every time I read the entire bible.
7. Unless you are a scholar, use the audio bible in books like Leviticus and Ezekiel. You will be shocked as to how much you learn by reading [seeing the words] with your eyes and listening with your ears.
8. If you are following a reading guide, check off daily the parts you have completed.
9. If you don’t have a guide and want one: go to google and type in GUIDE TO READ THE BIBLE THROUGH IN A YEAR and then pick one out. It will give you several.
10. Don’t quit reading if you get behind or miss a day. You will have good days and bad days. As you get into the year, we will get ahead and not behind.