It has been said that Jonathan Edwards would spend upwards of 13 hours a day studying Scripture. If the Christian life is like a marathon then Edwards was training for an Ironman® triathlon. Am I saying that Christians everywhere should quit their day jobs, ignore their families on a daily basis and hide away in their home office with Bible software open? No!
However, in rebelling against one extreme we often find ourselves at the opposite extreme. Here’s what I know: if you were going to run one mile a week for a year and then try to run a marathon, you are going to gas out rather quickly. Sadly, many Christians in our churches today average 15-20 min of Bible reading per week. This ought not be so! We ought to be consuming God’s word like we actually believe it’s spiritual sustenance, necessary fuel for life (as Jesus said in Matthew 4:4).
At this point you are likely wanting to object in some of the following ways, so let me take a moment to address some common objections.
So what exactly are we to do? Get your Christian rear end up off the couch, stop being lazy, and start training! It will look different for everyone. Start small, progressively adding a little bit of time and effort. Pray about what your goals should be (push yourself!). Establish your own training plan. Maybe you endeavor to memorize a chapter of Romans this year – maybe this month. Maybe you endeavor to read 3 Chapters a day and spend 40 min a day in study. I can’t tell you what’s right for you.
My guess is you could watch less tv, spend less time gaming, looking at your phone, or doing social media. Give up shopping online, hunting, fishing, reading fiction, sports, etc. None of these things should cause you to starve or be malnourished spiritually. None of these should take precedence over your pursuit of knowing God. I can also tell you this: you’re going to need to spend some serious time in prayer, asking God to give you a hunger and a desire for his word. You’re not naturally hungry for it. Just like our physical bodies would many times rather consume candy, cake and ice cream, than fruit, vegetables, and lean proteins.
Do all this not to check a box off your daily to-do list. Do it because in-so-doing you may taste of the goodness and faithfulness of God. You will find deep satisfaction and Christlikeness waiting. Press in to God’s word so you can press on in this marathon.
However, in rebelling against one extreme we often find ourselves at the opposite extreme. Here’s what I know: if you were going to run one mile a week for a year and then try to run a marathon, you are going to gas out rather quickly. Sadly, many Christians in our churches today average 15-20 min of Bible reading per week. This ought not be so! We ought to be consuming God’s word like we actually believe it’s spiritual sustenance, necessary fuel for life (as Jesus said in Matthew 4:4).
At this point you are likely wanting to object in some of the following ways, so let me take a moment to address some common objections.
- The everyday Christian does not need to be, nor can they be expected to be, a biblical scholar. Sure, that’s fair. However, Christians everywhere are called to be a “pillar and buttress of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15),” to be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you (1 Pet. 3:15),” and to “teach [others] to observe all that [Jesus has] commanded [us] (Matt. 28:19).” Let that echo in your mind… teach everything that Jesus taught! If you think 15-20 min a week – or even a day – of simply reading the Bible is adequate training for the task then by all means, proceed.
- Isn’t reading, studying, and memorizing my Bible some, better than not doing it at all? Sure, but it may just mean that your spiritual starvation is a slower process. In other words, you can eat some meals every now and then and still starve to death (if there is enough time between your meals). No, my intent is not to make light of people on our planet who are starving. For us (Americans) who have plenty of food it should be shocking and eye opening that others scrimp and scrounge and yet starve. Similarly, the Bible has more than enough spiritual food for all. Even if you’re not eating gourmet cuisine, fill your spiritual belly with something (outside of “church time”)! There is no reason for you to go spiritually hungry – stop snacking and eat your fill!
- Everybody has different amounts of available time and different levels of intellectual and literary comprehension. That is absolutely true. Imagine being at a marathon as an observer. Don’t you imagine that you will see all kinds of people? There will be people of differing genders, all ages, different experience levels, different ethnic backgrounds, different weights, varying BMI’s. Runners will finish each course at different times. Each runners’ preparation is different. Some trained more and some less. None of them ate the exact same things. Some require a higher caloric intake than others. Regardless of all these differences, they all trained and prepared themselves to be there. None of them got off the couch that morning without training and showed up to run the marathon. Similarly, each person will have to adhere to their own spiritual training regimen, just make and abide by your regimen! Find training partners! Push yourself to the limit and find where those limits are because most of us have never pushed that far!
- Shouldn’t we be doing what Jesus taught and not simply reading and studying? Yes! However, this is not a “one or the other” choice. It is a “both and” choice. We must both know and do. Look at Jesus' example in Matt. 4, when he was tempted by Satan. He supported his lack of action, defying the satanic temptation, by the words of God. Jesus both taught verbally and acted physically, using both means, working towards a spiritual end. Going back to point #1, we must read, study and know enough to fulfill those requirements, and more, but we must not neglect observing (doing) what Jesus taught.
- God is far too complicated and intricate for us to know and understand him, even if we devoted ourselves to a lifetime of study and learning of the things of God. Again, true! This is similar to #3 above, just a bit more nuanced. Certainly God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). Certainly we cannot match God’s knowledge, fully comprehend his ways, or scrutinize his judgments (Romans 11:33-34). Nonetheless, God thought it necessary and proper to reveal actual information about himself, his characteristics, his ways, his mind, his love, etc. To use this excuse is to ignore the mind God’s given us, the revelation that he’s preserved for us, and the task he has drafted us to complete. This is the equivalent of saying “I’ll never win a marathon so why should I train for one?” Christians, we’re not called to “win” – to solve the impossible puzzle that is God. We are called to know, understand, defend, and proclaim the truth that he has given to us.
So what exactly are we to do? Get your Christian rear end up off the couch, stop being lazy, and start training! It will look different for everyone. Start small, progressively adding a little bit of time and effort. Pray about what your goals should be (push yourself!). Establish your own training plan. Maybe you endeavor to memorize a chapter of Romans this year – maybe this month. Maybe you endeavor to read 3 Chapters a day and spend 40 min a day in study. I can’t tell you what’s right for you.
My guess is you could watch less tv, spend less time gaming, looking at your phone, or doing social media. Give up shopping online, hunting, fishing, reading fiction, sports, etc. None of these things should cause you to starve or be malnourished spiritually. None of these should take precedence over your pursuit of knowing God. I can also tell you this: you’re going to need to spend some serious time in prayer, asking God to give you a hunger and a desire for his word. You’re not naturally hungry for it. Just like our physical bodies would many times rather consume candy, cake and ice cream, than fruit, vegetables, and lean proteins.
Do all this not to check a box off your daily to-do list. Do it because in-so-doing you may taste of the goodness and faithfulness of God. You will find deep satisfaction and Christlikeness waiting. Press in to God’s word so you can press on in this marathon.