Creative Ways to Be in the Word

I was in a meeting recently where a coworker made a comment that you’ve probably heard before:

There’s only so much time in the day.

My coworker was talking about all the different tasks he wanted to accomplish, but he recognized he only had so much time. Despite wanting to get everything on his list done (wouldn’t that be nice?), he knew he couldn’t. He had to prioritize.

You might do something similar—not just at work, but in your everyday life. I know I do. Efficiency demands prioritization. That means making a list and checking things off one by one—whether mentally or physically. The days I don’t have a list are when I feel most unproductive (and probably am).

At the end of the day, what absolutely needs to be accomplished . . . and what can wait until tomorrow or get pushed off to an even later date?

Taking that one step further, dear Christian, where does time spent in God’s Word place on that list? Please don’t misunderstand me—spending time in God’s Word isn’t something we want to consider an item to check off a to-do list, but is it our number one priority . . . or is it one of the many tasks that gets pushed down the list to make way for more time-sensitive things?

You don’t have to answer, but to my shame, I know where it can be for me.

The problem isn’t a lack of desire. As Christians, we want to be in God’s Word—where he tells us about our Savior, Jesus. We want to talk to God and we want to be talking about him with our friends and family every day. We want to live out our lives of faith in everything we think, say, and do.

Oftentimes (at least for me), the problem is that I build up spending time in God’s Word and growing in my relationship with him to require an hour-and-a-half worship service-styled session . . . and that seems rather intimidating and overwhelming. Not to mention unmanageable.

Time spent in God’s Word doesn’t have to be that way. To be sure, having the right mindset of honor and respect is important when spending time in God’s Word—it’s not something we do flippantly—but life is busy.

Because there’s only so much time in the day, and because spending time with God is important to me, it just means that I might need to be more creative in how I go about keeping time in God’s Word on that daily priority list.

Here are just a few ideas if you’re looking to do the same. Maybe you could:

• Listen to a devotion or a chapter of the Bible
• Talk to God in prayer on the morning or evening commute
• Listen to Christian music at work (if you can do that) or with your kids on the way to and from school
• Ask your kids what they learned in religion class if they go to a Christian school or talk about last week’s worship service or children’s message with them
• Do an asynchronous Bible study with a friend(s) or family member(s) via text or Bible app
• Talk with your spouse about the worship service or what he or she thought of the sermon or Bible study
• Text your spouse on lunch break about a devotion book or section of the Bible that you’re reading through together

The comfort with all of those possibilities is that God promises to bless time spent in his Word, whenever and wherever we do so. As I wrote in a previous post, it’s always worth it.

If you have a family, finding time to be in God’s Word together might be especially challenging with all the different schedules and activities you’re juggling. If you’re looking for practical suggestions from Christians just like you, listen to “Staying in Scripture, When Life Gets Busy,” episode 2 of Faith Footnotes: Christian Conversations with Northwestern Publishing House.

Short, sweet, and to the point, it gives many practical ways for families (and all Christians) to stay in God’s Word when life gets busy!

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