Quiet Times

From the new book The Art of Worship, coming soon.

            Do a Bible word search on the term, “quiet time”.  It is not there, in any translation. Try “personal Bible study” in any concordance.  That phrase is not there either. There is no description for how to spend time in the word. Do we get up early, or stay up late? Should a journal be involved? How long is the correct investment of time? Does our one on one time with God have to be daily, or can it be every other day?

             Personal Bible Study may be one of the most guilt producing aspect of the Christian faith.  Listen to someone testify about getting up at 4:00 AM to spend an hour each day with the Lord, and some feel guilty that they are not morning people. Hear someone else describe spending evenings with the Lord, and another group feels guilt about having to spend their time with the children.  If someone equates reading the Bible with spirituality, there is yet another group that feels bad because they struggle to read a single sentence.

            There are no rules about spending time with God, and there should be no guilt associated with how you approach him. That being stated, Believers are not off the hook. Jesus said, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great” (Luke 6:46-49).

            The difference between a house built on the rock and one built on the sand is the strength of the substrate the house is built upon. The person in the sand house claims Jesus as his Lord. The issue is that they do not do what he says.  Why? Because they don’t know what he has said. All they know is what others have told them.

Tell me what you think about Bible Study