Published 9/9/19
By Greg Johnson
What If...
Dad, you’re a busy man.
You’ve been working long hours lately, not to mention coaching your daughter’s soccer team, attempting to catch up on the yard work, leading a small group once a week with other adults from the church, and being a good husband and father. It’s not easy being a dad.
As usual, you and Mom make sure we’re off to church on time every Sunday. Most of the time we make it at least after the announcements and before the singing. One Sunday we get to church, sing the songs, give the offering, then settle in to hear what God tells the pastor to say. Our pastor is a good teacher and even has a way of making his sermons interesting for kids my age. (Hey, remember, this is “what if”.)
The pastor starts telling our congregation about how busy he is being our leader, being a husband and father, and trying to have a close relationship with God (the same kind of problem that you have). He admits that a while ago, he only read the Bible if he was studying for the sermon. He goes on to talk about a commitment he made a few months back to get into God’s Word as often as possible. “It’s not every day yet,” he says, ‘but I’m getting close, and it’s making a huge difference in the way I look at things.”
Finally, he mentions a few helpful hints on how busy people can still read the Bible so they can become closer to God.
Questions to Think On
• Have you ever had a time when you were really consistent in reading your Bible? How did that make you feel about your relationship with God?
• When you are busy, is it tougher to read on a consistent basis?
• Is reading the Bible something important in your life? Why should it be important in my life?
• How often would you like to read the Bible? How can I help remind you?
What Does God Have to Say?
The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
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