Daily Devos: Are We Doing it Wrong? (or, how to study the Bible 101 part 1)

It's hard to know exactly where to start, but I'm going to attempt to start with one of the first things I awakened to when I began this journey: the daily devotional time. "Devotions" is one of those overly-clichéd words that has completely lost its meaning due to its over-use. While growing up, the word to me meant the small portion of your day where you pay homage to God so He'll bless your day. It's almost like you get special brownie points for doing devos. If you don't do them, you're not going to hell right away, but you'd certainly better feel guilty or else you might not have a spiritual pulse.

Now, it seems that in the average "Christian" American home, devotions usually includes reading a verse or two (or maybe a short passage) of Scripture, generally guided by a little booklet (I won't mention any names, but you probably know what I mean) that has some little story to go along with the verse. It's a great feel-good start to get you on your way. The problem? Well, if the Bible is your spritual sustinence for strength in the spiritual warfare we face day-to-day, let's just say that this would be akin to eating a cracker for breakfast before going out onto a labor-intensive job. And not eating lunch, either. Maybe even having another cracker before going to bed. Sound reasonable?

On the other extreme, some people's idea of devotions is to take a verse or two and do a super-deep expositional study for anywhere from 15 minutes to 3 hours. Admitedly, this is much more spiritually filling--more akin to eating steak for breakfast, to continue the illustration-- but again, it's only one meal, and not a very well-balanced one at that. Many strange doctrines can come out of this style of study as it generally requires taking one or two verses without context, which can be a detriment, which I will delve into in a later installment.

Now, smack-dab in the middle between the different styles of one-verse-wonders are the super ambitious "read through the Bible in five minutes" types who read large volumes of Scripture in short periods of time. They may win all sorts of speed-reading awards, but how much do you really get? This style is akin to eating a bagful of cotton candy for breakfast before that long day of hard work.

My suggestion? Balance in everything. Just as you (hopefully) eat a blanaced diet, you should balance between the contextual reading of what you read and studying the deeper meanings behind what you read. As I said before, I'll get into the importance of context vs depth in a later installment, but for now I want to get back to the point of devotions.

Let's look at what the word "devotion" really means. Taken from DictionaryDOTcom:

noun

1. profound dedication; consecration.

2. earnest attachment to a cause, person, etc.

3. an assignment or appropriation to any purpose, cause, etc.: the devotion of one's wealth and time to scientific advancement.

4.Often, devotions. Ecclesiastical . religious observance or worship; a form of prayer or worship for special use.

Interestingly enough, the 4th definition is the religious cultural definition. Being a bit of an etymology geek, I always ask the question, How did this word come to mean this? My theory is as follows: devotion time started as being a time Christians devoted (definition 3: assigned to a purpose) to studying God's Word to learn more about Him, thus becoming devoted (definition 1 or 2: dedication or earnest attachment to a person) to Him. Unfortunately, as is often the case, it seems to have become a religious cliché, as we see in definition 4. 

How do we break this cycle? How do we learn to truly be devoted to knowing God? Do we have to drop career and family--everything-- and become monks or nuns and spend life in solitude and silent meditation to show our devotion?

Yes! Join up today and you'll receive a free copy of my latest book "How to Please God in 12 Easy Steps!" Well, there's no simple answer, really. But I think that God gives us the clues in His Word. Think of how much the Bible (especially in Psalms) talks about meditating (or related words) on God's Word [day and night, no less!]. (hint, if you don't think of about a dozen off the top of your head, do a word-search on Biblegateway.com. That might help jog your memory). That doesn't mean you sit there in a trance-like state mumbling Bible phrases in the original Greek. God didn't call us to be zombies. Think about the book of James that talks about being a doer of the Word rather than a hearer only. 

The point is, whether you read one verse or a thousand--slowly and carefully or at high velocity--if you just forget about what you've read, you've missed the point altogether. The key is not quantity or quality of Bible reading, the key is whether it changes you. Does your daily devotions time make a difference in your life? Does it simmer in the back of your head all day and influence your decisions? Do you pull it out when you have a spare moment and chew on it a bit-- have a little "pick-me-up snack" or another "meal" to boost your strength for your daily battle? If you miss your Bible time, do you still meditate on familiar Scripture and commune with God, or do you hide from him in fear and guilt? God doesn't care whether you "do devotions" but whether you are devoted. Think about it.