It’s my pleasure to welcome my friend Sike Osinuga to Motherhood and Sanctity. As we prepare to enter a new year, Sike’s admonition to prioritize time in God’s Word helps us to set a marker for a potential season of drift. I esteem the voices of sisters who encourage me in life and godliness; may Sike’s words challenge and encourage your heart today. Find her at Thrive By The Word.
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Do you ever feel that you’re just too busy for the Bible? There’s so much clamouring for your attention, regardless of whatever stage of life you’re at. Let’s not even speak of the constant drip of media and entertainment distractions; it’s almost unbelievable how addictive they are becoming!
The reality of this frenzied busyness, which frankly, most of us are caught up in, is that The Bible is in danger of remaining a closed book, even to us Christians! Yet this trend is not new, a recent survey carried out by the Church of England revealed that majority of self-proclaimed Christians don’t read their Bibles. Ouch!
Understandable yet unacceptable
This trend is understandable because there are indeed competing and sometimes legitimate distractions that keep us from regularly reading our Bibles. On the other hand, the idea of a Christian who is not faithfully engaging with the Bible is somewhat a contradiction. It is therefore unacceptable because the identity of a Christian is bound up in the very words that are meant to shape and inform a Christian mind.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way
So, to the question of whether we’re too busy for the Bible, I think not; and so does Jen Pollock Michel, as she makes clear in her 2015 CT article, You're not too busy for the Bible:
God won’t amplify his voice, and the Scriptures won’t beg for our attention like breaking headlines. They don’t vie for our company like social media. But they will speak – if we quiet ourselves to listen. For us to hear God’s voice we have to turn down the volume of the media noise. And this illustrates a crucial point about the nature of commitment and change. In order to do, we must leave undone.
I find myself nodding in agreement with that crisp conclusion. As with other facets of life, we’re starkly confronted with the nature of commitment, think of your relationships, academic pursuit, career, family… we strive to give our best to the things we consider important. As the famous cliché goes, ‘where there is a will, there is a way’.
So may I ask, what are you prepared to leave undone this week, in order to pick up your Bible, or even that long overdue book, and read?
Remember it’s not so much about the drudgery of duty, but the delight of relishing the truth of God’s Word. Neither is it so much about gathering information for the next doctrinal argument that comes along, but more about seeing and savouring the supreme worth and beauty of God.
Let’s get reading… and to some good purpose too!
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Sike Osinuga is a Christian learning the ropes of being a godly wife and mother, a wobbly step at a time. Her passion is to know Christ, and to make Him known. She blogs at www.thrivebytheword.com.