As a missionary I find myself repeating important truths, whether in teaching, or my preaching ministry. And the one friends hear me repeat the most is “spend time in the Word of God.” This is incredibly important because God speaks to us through Scripture using the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the more time we spend in Scripture, the closer we are to God.
That understanding has led me to create a personal habit which, though not Biblical, I believe helps greatly accelerate spiritual growth.
Carry a real Bible….
By this I mean carrying and using a physical copy of the King James Version bible in daily ministry.
I am not personally against using apps on tablets or phones to read Scripture. The problem is they allow you to read Scripture quickly….and the bible wasn’t meant to be read that way. Scripture was meant to be read in a slow and meditative way, thinking as you read
There are other reasons why I don’t like using Apps to read Scripture
- you can easily become distracted, a text comes in, and it immediately draws your attention away
- There are too many things on that electronic device that can take you away from Scripture reading
- Scrolling through a bible text like you would Facebook leads to “skimming” or reading without really thinking
- And we spend far too much of our time staring at screens anyways
Using a physical bible however leads to meditation
- you underline important words or phrases
- make notes in the margins
- turn back and forth checking different texts
- and take physical notes about what you’ve learned
- all of this takes longer, but it leads to retention of information
Not only are physical bibles a necessary part of life, but I’ve found they must be something we constantly carry with us. Which is why I personally have a “study bible” and “carrying around bible.”
The study bible is obviously something used for deeper study. I find it useful to have it on a desk by itself without my study notebook, and favourite marking pens. That way nothing distracts me from the time of study. Having it there also reminds me constantly about the necessity of planned, as well as unplanned, bible reading.
The carrying around bible is a small bible that I have in my backpack. This of course is used for short periods of reading instead of large chunks of study. Basically as I noted in a post earlier this week, we as christians are called to “redeem our free moments” which means reading a bible instead of looking at my phone.
I understand carrying around a physical copy of the bible may be difficult for some of you, but trust me, the benefits greatly outweigh the price you pay.
While we aren’t told in Scripture “don’t read the bible from a tablet” let me challenge you dear friends to approach the Word of God in an attitude of hunger. A desire to dig deep and truly think about what you are reading, so that they Holy Spirit can use it to transform your life. Experience has taught me this is much easier when using a physical bible.
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