Why do I need a devotional life? My life is so busy, and I feel as if I know the stories already because of religion courses and being in church.

We all have challenges to our devotional life. Many Christians can relate to the two challenges to a devotional life in your question.

Challenge 1: “I’m too busy”

The psalmist describes a blessed person as one “whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night” (Psalm 1:2). As Christians, we delight in God’s Word! That’s why we meditate on it day and night. God wants it to be on our minds always. The Hebrew word translated as “meditate” refers to the sound something naturally makes. So it’s translated as “plot,” when the psalmist asks, “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?” (Psalm 2:1). In Isaiah 31:4, it’s translated as “growl”: “as a lion growls.” People plot. Lions growl. Blessed people meditate.

While there is great variance in the gifts and wealth the Lord gives to his people, the gift of time is different. Each person has the same amount of time each day: 24 hours. When we say that we don’t have time for God’s Word, understand that we really can be saying, “God’s Word is not important enough.” We would never say that with our words, but our actions speak volumes. It has been said, “If you’re too busy for God’s Word, then you are too busy.”

Consequences of the challenge

By not reading God’s Word, we will not have spiritual rest. In the Old Testament, the Israelites were to observe the Sabbath year. Every seven years, they were not to sow their fields but to give them rest. That was a picture of trusting in the Lord to provide for them. When God instituted the Sabbath year, he warned the people that if they did not observe it, he would give the land its rest (Leviticus 26:34-45). God did exactly that through the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities.

It seems counterintuitive, but when we neglect a personal devotional life to save time, we will never save a minute! I have fallen for the devil’s trick too many times in my life. Before I have my devotion, I sometimes try to take care of a few little tasks first. Then those little tasks chase me around all day, along with 50 other things that pop up, and I don’t get to my Bible time! And those tasks often still do not get completed. Anecdotally, it is amazing how productive the day is when I focus on God’s Word first. Jesus’ words come to mind: “Seek first [your heavenly Father’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you” (Matthew 6:33).

Answers to the challenge

We need to recognize God’s priorities. God is the highest of all the good things in our lives, and time spent meditating on his Word deserves top priority! We cannot properly love the other good things in our lives if we do not properly love God first. Of all the good things God gives us in life, it’s good to remember what is most important.

It’s touching to read the gospels and see how Jesus took his disciples away from the press of the crowds to teach them. Jesus wants to do the same for us! He wants to take us away from the press of life and spend time with us in his Word. Think about what he wants to give us: peace, hope, comfort, and more! If I told you that I would give you a million dollars every day you came to see me, how many days would you miss? None! Think how much more God gives us in his Word. And here’s the beautiful thing: We never have to imagine a day without it.

Challenge 2: “I know all of that already”

Have you ever read a Christian book and come to a large chunk of a familiar section of Scripture in a block quote and then skipped it? Then you suffer from the thinking of this challenge!

Consequences of the challenge

In speaking of the sacrifices that the people in Isaiah’s day brought, God said, “Who has asked this of you?” (Isaiah 1:12). The people might have responded, “God, didn’t you ask us to?” God said these things about the people when the temple courts were full, not when the gates were shut.

The people in Isaiah’s day outwardly looked like they were doing the right things. They were classy sinners! They made the right sacrifices and observed the right days, but their hearts were not in it. To quote a professor, they were doing the “rite things for the rote reason.” The result is that the joy is lost. We end up putting our hope in outward circumstances rather than allowing the inner reality of peace with God to color those outward circumstances.

Answers to the challenge

When we read the Bible, we are not doing God a favor; rather, he is doing us a favor. It’s not our devotion to God but, rather, God’s devotion to us! In his Word, the Lord reminds us who we are to him. Among other things, he calls us his bride. And he reminds us what he’s made us to be: “a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:27). The Lord loves to tell his bride that he loves her, and we love to hear it again and again! In the same way, when I tell my wife, “I love you,” she has not once said, “Ugh, Dave, I know that all already!” No! I love to say it, and she loves to hear it!

Remember the benefits of a devotional life. God assures us of his promises and strengthens us to believe them. God’s promises remain rock solid no matter how timidly we stand on them. The picture that comes to mind is that of a man crossing a river of ice on his hands and knees, spreading his weight out as best he can. He doesn’t know how thick the ice is. Suddenly, he hears a rumbling from around the bend of the river. It’s a tractor pulling a hay wagon full of happy, screaming children past him, flat on his face . . . as if three feet of ice would crack at any second.

Remember the benefits of a devotional life. God assures us of his promises and strengthens us to believe them.

The beauty of that simple picture is that the ice holds the man up. Faith walks out across it, and whether tentatively or boldly, the ice still holds him up. Silly thoughts about the ice don’t change it, not even a little bit. It doesn’t become thin just because he thinks it is. Jesus’ Word to us is the ice. Faith walks out across it.

Who would you rather be in that picture? The timid man or the happy, screaming children? I want to be in that hay wagon!

Ask a question at forwardinchrist.net/submit.

Author: David Scharf
Volume 112, Number 04
Issue: April 2025