Life Without the Word

People will stagger from sea to sea
   and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the LORD,
   but they will not find it. – Amos 8:12

Today’s Reading: Amos 7-9; Revelation 8

Do you read the Bible everyday?

I try to but I know that there are some days where I slip. I was listening to a sermon by Charles Stanley a few months ago and he talked about this very thing. He did an experiment to see what it was like to live how most of us live who don’t read the Bible. He decided not to read it for a week.

It was not a good look for him.

He said that by the end of the week he felt down, totally depressed, and disconnected from God. He had no idea how we make it through the day without at least reading some of God’s Word.

Looking back at how my life used to be helps me understand where he is coming from. Everything was a struggle. I was stuck in all kinds of confusion. I was surviving instead of thriving.

When you’re in it you don’t really know that that is the problem. It is like when you have a chronic injury. Once the pain gets down to a bearable amount you kind of just deal with it. It is hard to remember what life was like before you had the pain.

But what if you could live differently? What if you could live each and every day feeling a direct connection to God?

That’s what reading the Bible does for me. No matter how down I am I can crack open the Good Book and things change. I may not break out into song but when I’m done my mind has been stimulated, my heart softened and my spirit uplifted.

Food for Thought: Can you commit to reading the Bible everyday for a week, a month, or a year?