Easiest Spiritual Discipline Ever, part 1
I've never really been much of a chess player. I was in the chess club in grade school for a year or two. My dad got really heavily into it after that, so I played with him occasionally. I've always enjoyed it a lot, but it's never been a big part of my life.
But about a month and a half ago, I found a free chess program for my cell phone. Now I play chess every day- usually multiple games a day! And, well, I'm still not good by anyone's standards, but I've definitely improved my game.
I've come to realize that the main obstacle to my becoming a chess player wasn't skill or interest, but convenience. It takes a long time to sit down with someone to play a chess came. And when I'm on the computer, I usually have better things to do than pop Chessmaster in.
But now I have chess with me wherever I go! I can turn it on in the elevator, play a few moves, then come back to it once I get to the office. And now that I can do that, and my mind is going "chess! chess! chess!" all the time, when I do have 20-30 minutes to spare, I very often spend it sitting down through a game or three.
There are a lot of wonderful spiritual disciplines that have grown up in the Church over the past two thousand years, and among God's people for the past four thousand years, from fasting to the Daily Office to hospitality. We're blessed as Christians to have such rich resources for devotion. Here's one, though, that most people don't think of as a spiritual discipline, but is actually, in my opinion, one of the best ones out there, and easiest too: carrying the Bible with you all the time.
We Evangelicals are obsessed with Scripture. We're "Bible believing Christians" to the core. Everything we believe is based on the Word of God. But how often do we actually read it? When I ask my Christian friends and acquaintances about Scripture reading, it turns out a lot of them don't read it every day. Some of them, it seems, read it every other hour; but for many, it's only every couple of days they sit down with the Word.
Now, these people aren't bad Christians. They love the Lord and His Word passionately. But they're walking into danger by starving themselves of their spiritual nourishment. Why are they doing this? I think there's a very practical answer to this.
I lead Bible studies every Wednesday night during the school year. And it shocks me that of the 6-8 people in our circle, usually only 2-4 people have their Bibles with them. "Brethren, this should not be!" I think very simply, many Christians don't read the Word becasue they don't give themselves the opportunity. I know we're all very busy and don't have much time for things we like to do. But there's always that twenty minutes on the train, ten minutes of downtime before the party starts, five minutes waiting for class to start. If you have your Bible with you, that can be your quiet time! You don't need to get up at six in the morning, or stay up till one, to have devotions. If you have your Bible with you, you can take the opportunity as it comes.
Don't get me wrong: times like that don't replace longer, set devotional times in the morning or evening. I very firmly believe that every Christian should try to set aside at least an hour a day for prayer and Scripture reading. But how can you expect to develop a devotional life at all if you aren't reading the Word at all? If you keep your Bible with you, and take every chance you get to open it and mine its riches, then God will not only prosper the time you do give Him, but will show you more opportunities for spending time with Him.
There's an even deeper reason why Christians need to keep Scripture close by them, and why they too often don't bother to; but I'll get to that in another post.
But about a month and a half ago, I found a free chess program for my cell phone. Now I play chess every day- usually multiple games a day! And, well, I'm still not good by anyone's standards, but I've definitely improved my game.
I've come to realize that the main obstacle to my becoming a chess player wasn't skill or interest, but convenience. It takes a long time to sit down with someone to play a chess came. And when I'm on the computer, I usually have better things to do than pop Chessmaster in.
But now I have chess with me wherever I go! I can turn it on in the elevator, play a few moves, then come back to it once I get to the office. And now that I can do that, and my mind is going "chess! chess! chess!" all the time, when I do have 20-30 minutes to spare, I very often spend it sitting down through a game or three.
There are a lot of wonderful spiritual disciplines that have grown up in the Church over the past two thousand years, and among God's people for the past four thousand years, from fasting to the Daily Office to hospitality. We're blessed as Christians to have such rich resources for devotion. Here's one, though, that most people don't think of as a spiritual discipline, but is actually, in my opinion, one of the best ones out there, and easiest too: carrying the Bible with you all the time.
We Evangelicals are obsessed with Scripture. We're "Bible believing Christians" to the core. Everything we believe is based on the Word of God. But how often do we actually read it? When I ask my Christian friends and acquaintances about Scripture reading, it turns out a lot of them don't read it every day. Some of them, it seems, read it every other hour; but for many, it's only every couple of days they sit down with the Word.
Now, these people aren't bad Christians. They love the Lord and His Word passionately. But they're walking into danger by starving themselves of their spiritual nourishment. Why are they doing this? I think there's a very practical answer to this.
I lead Bible studies every Wednesday night during the school year. And it shocks me that of the 6-8 people in our circle, usually only 2-4 people have their Bibles with them. "Brethren, this should not be!" I think very simply, many Christians don't read the Word becasue they don't give themselves the opportunity. I know we're all very busy and don't have much time for things we like to do. But there's always that twenty minutes on the train, ten minutes of downtime before the party starts, five minutes waiting for class to start. If you have your Bible with you, that can be your quiet time! You don't need to get up at six in the morning, or stay up till one, to have devotions. If you have your Bible with you, you can take the opportunity as it comes.
Don't get me wrong: times like that don't replace longer, set devotional times in the morning or evening. I very firmly believe that every Christian should try to set aside at least an hour a day for prayer and Scripture reading. But how can you expect to develop a devotional life at all if you aren't reading the Word at all? If you keep your Bible with you, and take every chance you get to open it and mine its riches, then God will not only prosper the time you do give Him, but will show you more opportunities for spending time with Him.
There's an even deeper reason why Christians need to keep Scripture close by them, and why they too often don't bother to; but I'll get to that in another post.