As awful and unspiritual as it sounds, we all have moments when we don’t feel like reading the Bible.
For some of us, it’s just moments. But for others, it’s days. For others, weeks or months.
We feel spiritually dry, dispassionate, unenthusiastic, sluggish, tired, bored, busy. There are a thousand reasons stemming from a thousand feelings, but none of them really matter.
What matters far more is the choice we make when we feel those feelings.
The choice to ignore the Bible or to read it anyways, even though we don’t feel like it.
And that is a high-stakes decision.
A decision that has far-reaching, radically cosmic repercussions. It is a decision to give in to selfish apathy or to win a mighty victory by exercising spiritual discipline.
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Most of us can relate this to one thing: exercise.
Often (usually?), we don't feel like exercising. We’d rather skip the discomfort, pain, and boredom and head straight to the showers to get on with our day.
But when we shake ourselves out of lethargy and pick up the weights or do the squat, we feel it.
The burst of blessing in the act of discipline.
The power and joy that comes from doing something difficult. We feel better, because we’re doing something good.
Exercise is about so much more than burning calories. It makes your body feel better. It makes your brain feel better. It’s an investment in your health for your family. It’s about more than just you.
We are blessed when we do hard things.
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On those days when you don’t want to read the Bible (maybe today is one of them), let me encourage you. You will be blessed by that hard thing.
That doesn’t mean you’ll receive a spiritual epiphany… or you’ll perfectly understand everything you read… or you’ll walk away giddy and singing to yourself.
But it means, if you open your heart to the Word of God, it will change you. It will help you. It will nourish you with the living water your dry heart craves.
It will bless you.
John Piper says, “The fight for joy is a fight to see.” The fight to find delight in God’s Word is a fight to see what it is… or rather, who it shows.
In the Bible, we behold our Maker and Sustainer and our Savior and Intercessor and our Encourager and Helper. We see God.
And in this beholding, there is blessing.
Today, I hope you read your Bible — even if you don’t feel like it. Especially if you don’t feel like it.
Because you will find a special blessing birthed in the power of Spirit-driven discipline.
God’s Word is ready to be read by you. There is treasure for you to find.
Don’t miss out on it.