What Are You Reading?

3. March 2008 by Pastor Mike.

Never in a million years would I have thought that someday I’d have a blog.  But after a lot of thinking and pondering, I thought I’d give it a shot.  I’ve never been one that is computer savvy, so with some help from my friend Jon, here we go!

I enjoy reading.  Whenever I get any free time, I love to pick up a book and read.  But I’ve been challenged lately with what I have been reading.  Not that I’m reading anything inappropriate, mind you.  In fact, the only books that I read are books that challenge me in my walk with Christ or Christian fiction (Ted Dekker is my favorite Christian fiction author).  But after a quick personal inventory, I realized that I’d fallen into an unacceptable pattern.  I was spending less time in the Bible and more time in other books. 

There is no other book that has the power to change a life than God’s Word.  There is no other book that is “living, powerful…”  I think way too often we do not consider God’s Word for what it is.  It is God’s very words to me, to you.  No amount of time spent in God’s word is wasted time.  And I came to the realization that I needed to be submersing myself in His Word more.  All of the other things that I read are good, as long as they are not detracting from my study of His Word.

So last night, I issued a challenge to the youth ministry - Holy Force Youth Ministry of Christian Life Fellowship.  I gave each of them a “Chapter A Day” bookmark.  On it I listed the days in March and assigned a chapter for each day.  My challenge to them was that we, together as a youth ministry, read a chapter a day from the Bible.  We’ll all be reading the same chapter every day.  And I challenged them to hold each other accountable about reading it.  One chapter a day is not too much to ask or expect.  In fact, if we aren’t willing to spend time in His Word, what does that say about our commitment to our relationship with Him?

Yesterday we read John 1.  Today, we’ll read John 2.  And I am looking forward to hearing good things as a result of teenagers reading the Word of God.  Hebrews tells us that “He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him”. 

I’ll continue to read, a lot.  But I’ve made the commitment to be more balanced in what I read and to be more committed to the Bible.  How about you - what are you reading?

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