At my SisterChicks small group on Tuesday night, our leader, Diane Skoog, was talking about the importance of spending time DAILY in Bible Study and prayer. I couldn’t agree more. I have been making a determined effort in the past few years to not let a day go by without spending some time with God. I mean, of course, I am always talking to God throughout the day, but actually spending time sitting, reading, studying and praying, just does not come naturally for me, so I have to almost schedule it into my life. Diane’s suggestion for the women who really wanted to get serious in their relationship with Christ is to start with 5 & 5. Five minutes of Bible reading and 5 minutes of prayer. I thought this was a fabulous suggestion.
I know what you’re thinking. (Well, I know what I’d be thinking.) “Ten minutes a day doesn’t really seem like much time to spend with God. I don’t really want to just spend ten minutes. Shouldn’t I be spending 30 minutes a day?” Well, of course, thirty minutes would be great. So would sixty minutes, or 90 minutes, but will you consistently do that? Setting that as a starting goal just sets you up for failure. ANYONE can do 5 and 5, even me. The thing is that once you start with 5 and 5, you’ll get excited about what you are learning and love it so much that you’ll want to do more.
Once you start reading consistently you’ll be amazed at what you’ll learn! For instance, I have read through the New Testament countless times. In college, I read through the entire NT in about three days. It was for “extra credit” in a New Testament class I was taking. Mind you, I had an entire quarter to finish this assignment, I had just procrastinated, putting it off until the last three days of the term. I’m can say for sure that I didn’t learn much in those three days, but earlier this year I was shocked to read Luke 10:1 where it says, “The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples….” Seventy-two! Wow, if someone were to ask me how many disciples Jesus had I would, until now, have said 12.
My point is there is SO much to learn from God’s word that you just won’t get it all in the first read through. It’s like watching a movie for three, four, or five times. You’ll see something different every time through. God’s word is so cool! Spend some time there today. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Start with 5 and 5 and watch what God does in you!