Habits.

We know that you have to do something over and over, without fail, for it to become a habit. I have a lot of things I do that fall into this category:

Showering. Cleaning my house. Grocery shopping. Putting the dogs outside. Organizing my house. Checking Instagram. Scrolling aimlessly on Pinterest. Rolling my eyes at Facebook. Watching TV. Ordering off Amazon. Listening to music while I work. Pouring a glass of wine to enjoy each night.

Where’s my time reading the Bible? I’m starting in Genesis with the kids this year for our homeschool plan, and we’ll do that Monday – Thursday. But what about my own personal roots in the word? A daily habit to be in the Bible reading it word for word, praying for discernment and understanding.

I stumbled upon a series on YouTube of Amish families and teenagers meeting British teenagers and families. It was really interesting to see how these people lived, to see their daily devotion (MULTIPLE times thru the day- imagine that), and to see them use that single book as the basis for literally everything. Even one scene where the Amish kids were in England and the issue of dancing came up. The girls spent the night reading all they could where the Bible referenced dancing and what it truly said vs. what they had been taught to believe. They read, questioned, prayed. But the basis of reading was the center to everything. It’s a really cool series!

 

Click HERE for the series of the Amish kids visiting England.

Do you make it a daily habit to be in your Bible reading each and every day without fail? Is it as second nature to be reading your Bible as it is to brush your teeth or have a cup of coffee? It isn’t for me, and I really don’t think it is for the majority of us. What if we made it a habit?

I suppose in this world of social media marketing I should have some really cool video with me looking very perfectly put together but playing it off as ‘casual me’ with a perfectly white background, a polished messy bun and stylized table or desk next to me. Sorry folks, what about a gathering using the internet as a gift to share each day a passage of scripture- no fuss. No fancy. No frill. Just the words. And we can read through the Bible together. We can make being in the word a DAILY habit. No excuses.

I’m in. I have other things I’m sure the world says I “should” be doing, that should be my priority. But God had me up all night (I hardly slept- which is NOT like me) thinking about this. And I’m going to do it- read through the Bible, hopefully with others out there that find this, and plant that habit to grow stronger than my need for morning coffee (and evening wine).

Amen.

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K.I.S.S.

Do you ever think that Jesus is the O.G. for the KISS saying?

Keep It Simple Stupid.

Well, he’s Jesus. So maybe in Hebrew that last s was for silly or something not as ‘harsh’ as stupid.

Most people of any level of faith would probably agree that the Bible is important. Heck, it’s a world long best seller. But, we’d also all probably agree that it’s not read as often as it probably should be.

I think we have a few things to blame- ourselves, modern life, busy schedules, laziness, Netflix… seriously- we can binge watch all seasons of Peaky Blinders (and then maybe re watch it for anything you may have missed) but when was the last time you binge read the New Testament? Ya… me either.

But I think part of it is that we’ve over complicated studying the Bible. Follow me and moment if you will….

God gave the gift of his word, the story he wanted to be told to every corner of the world. Something for every man, woman and child to learn of his love and grace, to learn of Jesus and to live a life for Him. Do you think it’s something too complicated for the average Joe to understand? No way!

We’ve made it SO complicated! You have to go to church for a pastor to explain and break it down. You have to get into some kind of theological tangent to even understand. You have to research oodles and oodles of historic documents to know how anything applied and if it still does. You have to have a specific reading plan, with a devotional study book and questions to answer, prayers to recite… it goes on and on. Oh ya, and then we argue and bicker about all of those points just mentioned.

What if you just KISS? What if you just kept it simple stupid? (Or silly, if you think me saying stupid is mean.)

I don’t think many church attending Christians REALLY know what it says and how God directly tells us to live our lives for him. Hint: it’s NOT the way mainstream church culture behaves. (This statement based off of growing up in a church going Christian home, attending Christian school, and hearing time and time again things that are just flat out NOT there.)

But how could we? How could we know without a doubt that we’re on that track when we never root ourselves in it? Can you sing along to more songs on the radio or tv jingles than you can Bible verses? I think something’s off. I know I can’t.

The wise men of the Bible tell us there that we must be in His word constantly! That if we’re reading, praying and listening for God’s direction that we will be on the right path.

Let’s keep it simple. Let’s cut EVERYTHING out and just read the words in front of us. I volunteer to make a super simple, daily scripture plan that you can watch/listen to/read. You need nothing more than you have right now. If you’re reading this it’s because you get on Facebook/Instagram daily, so clicking one more link won’t kill ya. And Netflix will still be there in 15 minutes.

Let’s put away everything we’ve been told, we’ve been hurt by, we’ve viewed as hypocritical, and just read each and every word, take it for what it says, and let that sink into our hearts like a seed ready to sprout. 🌱

You in?