Some of you might remember the old Sunday School song which chides little children to "read your Bible, pray every day... and you'll grow, grow grow." Verse 2 continues with the guilt-ridden image of "forget your Bible, forget to pray... and you'll shrink, shrink, shrink". (There were corresponding actions to make sure you really got the point). Most of us as adults have a difficult time doing anything every day except for enjoying a good cup of coffee, eating a few times and stumbling into bed after half-paying attention to the evening news.
So in the midst of busy and daily life, what is the benefit of reading your Bible every day? Put in the sing-song language of verse 2, is there any significant danger to NOT reading my Bible every day? (I mean, shrinking in spiritual stature doesn't sound all that dangerous, does it?)
In the Old Testament, we see a cycle emerge that almost certainly typifies most of us in our spiritual lives. It shows up prominently in the book of Judges but also in the minor prophets. I'll
over-simplify my case here perhaps, but in my own life, it usually looks a little something like this:
1) Sin - I choose to do something wrong or choose not to do something right
2) Consequence - be it natural, spiritual, immediate or delayed...
3) Repentance - Sometimes I make it here on my own, other times only by the gracious work of the Holy Spirit reminding me
4) Restoration - until I begin the cycle again
In the Old Testament book of Hosea, God reminds the people that they are only talking with him once they experience very bad things at the top half of this cycle. They get in trouble, they try every conceivable alternative (see Hosea 5:11-13), then finally, when things get so bad they don't know where to turn, they turn back to God ("For as soon as trouble comes, they will earnestly search for me." 5:15b).
As an illustration, picture you have a fire hall down the street from your house (we do). You set as a goal to get to know some of the fire fighters you meet there (perhaps your kids go to the same school - this is again the case with us). If you didn't talk with them when you were both dropping you kids off but only spoke with them when you were in the midst of an emergency situation, you would be unlikely to get to know them very well. The challenge with an emergency is that both parties are focused on the problem and not on building any kind of meaningful relationship. Any thin connection that exists centres mostly around the problem that needs a solution not around a genuine and shared desire for authentic community.
But what if, in order to reach your goal of a better relationship with these fine people, you visited the fire hall each day. Or what if you took the time each day at school drop off to ask about them and their lives. To genuinely make an effort to get to know them. To listen to their concerns and needs. To understand what motivates and what scares them. The likely-hood is much, much higher that you would begin to develop a genuine relationship.
Similarly, if I turn to God ONLY when I am in trouble, I am not likely to be focused on getting to know God but simply seeing Him as a way out of my current emergency situation. Hosea says "Oh, the we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know Him!" (6:3a). To which God responds "I want you to know me!" (6:6b). But in order to get to know someone, I need to make an intentional investment of time with deepening the relationship as the goal. This is difficult to do if I am always asking God only for help, but it does become easier to press on and press in if I make that choice not only when trouble comes but today.
Perhaps the real power of daily prayer and Bible intake isn't in the ritual itself, but in the simple act of prioritizing the relationship. If you and I can do that, perhaps we are likely after all to - as the song says - grow, grow, grow!
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