Start The Habit Now

I know it’s a hard habit to form and even a harder habit to keep. It’s a habit that the evil one will send distractions to excuse you from maintaining it. But there is no more valuable habit you could ever form and maintain in your life than the habit of reading and meditating on Scripture.I’d like to help you with this over the next few weeks.I’m sure you already know the starters. We say it all the time at The Bridge. 1) Make a time, 2) Make a place. Set aside an appointment to meet with God to read Scripture every day. If you don’t, you’ll never form the habit, and you’ll never know the blessing of God’s Word being integrated into your thinking, your outlook on life, your reactions, the junk around you, etc.But I’d like to move past those first two steps. I can’t make you do those things. I remind you all the time. But at some point, you have to do it.I’d like to talk in these next few weeks about getting the most out of your reading, and how to actually meditate on Scripture.Jesus’ half-brother, James, wrote, “If you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it" (James 1:25 NLT).His words, “…doing it” means, “practicing what it says.” Not just “doing it” as in “doing the reading,” but reading, remembering, and practicing. It’s the practicing of God’s Word that brings blessing.Think of it this way, God’s blessing is always attached to his principles, his Word. His blessing on our lives in not random. He promises blessing to those who do as he says. When we attach God’s Word to our minds and lives, thinking his way and doing things his way, we attach God’s blessing to our lives, our mental state, our emotional state, our spiritual state, and even our external lives. Reading and meditating on the Bible is more than just a good habit to form. It’s a game-changer that transforms a life of mere existence to a life of thriving and impact for eternity.Whether or not you get into God’s Word daily is a big deal. For a lot of professing Christians, not doing so is what is in the way of their flourishing.Is that the case for you?In the weeks ahead, I’m going to offer some practical “how-to’s,” but for starters, you’ve got to get the habit going. Nothing I say in the weeks ahead will help you if you do not get started by scheduling the when and determining the where. Start the habit today, and in the weeks ahead you may find your life completely changed!