When Bible Reading Feels Like a Chore
On our best days, we Christians can open our Bible's, read multiple Psalms and Epistles, and feel very high and mighty about our spirituality. Sometimes we feel like we are the closest to God, and that nothing in life could ever separate us! Other times, we feel so apathetic or discouraged toward our Bible reading that the dust could start to accumulate on the cover.The excuse we begin giving ourselves is that we could read it later. Or tomorrow. Or in two days. Or next week. Or that we will pick it up on the first of the next month. Or a plethora of other excuses! The question is not, "Should I read the Bible today?" In fact, there is no question. We, as Christians, should read our Bible daily. There are some factors we must consider to get to the point where we have that insatiable hunger for the Word.
Be Honest About Why You Don't Read
Before you begrudgingly open your Bible to a random page and hope that God gives you some sort of revelation from it, you should examine your own state. What is going on in your life? Are you exhausted? Are you disillusioned to the Holy Spirit? Have you let others crowd the time you should have for God? Is there something in your life that you don't want to have corrected by God?
These situations require different responses and approaches. A tired person may need some rest and a scheduled block of time for Bible reading. A distracted person may need to go somewhere quiet, put away their phone, and get in the Word. A person avoiding conviction and admonition needs to honestly come before God and confess their sins to Him.
No matter what the situation may be, Christians should never be excuse-makers. Christ made us to be more than conquerors (Romans 8:37). Do not hide behind a vague and empty promise to "do better tomorrow."
Ask God to Give You a Hunger for His Word
Pray before you read. Pray before you even sit down to read. Prayer is more than just a ritual to appease God. Prayer is a personal talk with the God who created the Universe. Go to the Lord in prayer before you open His Word and ask him for three things:
- That He will help you pay attention.
- That He will help you understand His Word.
- That He will help you apply it to your life.
A desire for God's Word (1 Peter 2:2) means absolutely nothing if you do not act upon it.
Pray for the Lord to help eliminate distractions so that you can give him your full, undivided attention. Pray for the Lord to help you study and understand what He is trying to tell you.
His Word is not covered by some "hidden knowledge" that you have to figure out or experience to find, that's Gnosticism and Gnosticism is heresy. Then, pray for God to help you apply His Word to your life. What is the point of learning and studying something if there is no application?
Read Something Manageable
When you have that feeling that your devotions are like a chore, don't try to dive into a heavy book such as Isaiah or Revelation. Read something a little lighter and easier. Now, that's different for every believer.
Personally, I struggle with reading the Books of Poetry (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes). I much prefer the straightforward nature of books such as the Epistles.
A common misconception about reading the Bible daily is that you must read something new every day. You can read the same passage multiple times and understand something different each time. My go-to books to read are the two Epistles of Peter. I have read those epistles over three times each.
You do not need to find something new when you feel this way, but you should get in God's Word somehow someway.
Act on What You Read
Daily Bible reading is not just to "check-off" a task to mark it complete. The Bible is the Word of God and we should live our lives like Christ. The Epistle of James speaks on this exactly:
"But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only" (James 1:22)
He articulates that we should not just intake the Word, but act upon it. Even a short time in Scripture can change your life dramatically.
Keep Coming Back
There are two things that quite often I get into the rut of not wanting to do in the morning: Go to the gym and read my Bible. I wake up, I'm hungry, I'm tired, I want to do absolutely anything other than work-out (strengthen my body) and read my Scripture (strengthen my spirit).
However, whenever I do push-through my mentality and I end up working out and doing my devotions, it is so highly rewarding.
If you don't feel like reading your Bible today, bring it to God right now. Stop putting it off, and just open your Bible anyways. Then tomorrow, come back and do it again. It's simple. It's hard. It's rewarding.
You will find that a desire for God's Word grows as you spend time within it.