Reed Mueller

The other day I was thinking about what had been the single most important factor in my own spiritual development over the past decade. After just a moment the answer came to me: Allowing God to speak to me by reading and studying my Bible regularly.

Having reflected upon it for several days now, I know that my first impression was spot on. Before I became a pastor my bible reading and study was pretty extremely hit and miss. There would be a few times when it was consistent, but most of the time it wasn’t. However, when I was called into my role role as the pastor of the church I love, all that changed. Now, in part because of external contingencies (like being called to lead others and to preach most weekends) I have read or studied my Bible most every day for the past ten years. Please note that I would not have read and studied so regularly had I not had the extrinsic motivation to do so – I’m not at all tooting my own horn AT ALL!

Regardless of what motivated me to be more consistent, the result was profound. I haven’t experienced those “dead spots” in my faith like I used to on a very regular basis. I haven’t experienced the sense of “needing to be fed” like I used to on a very regular basis because God feeds me through His Word. Finally, I haven’t struggled nearly as much as I used to with the depression I was stuck in on a regular basis throughout my teens and most of my 20’s. I attribute all of this to the grace of God as He shaped me by His Word. And all of this seems consistent with what God himself says about the Scriptures (e.g., Jesus in Matthew 4:4 quoting Deuteronomy 8:3; Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Now I can’t promise that if you read and study the scriptures regularly that you’ll never get depressed or stressed out (knowing life, I can almost guarantee that you still will from time to time). Nor can I promise that your faith won’t lag sometimes or that you won’t feel the need to be fed (because you will have those senses sometimes). But what I do believe is this: Your faith, your spiritual life, and your emotional life will grow and become more stable. You and your life won’t be perfect – not at all – but God’s word, when we allow it to speak to us, changes us for the better nevertheless!

So do whatever you need to do to read and study His Word regularly – it is a real key to your own spiritual formation. If you need, create external contingencies (like a daily to do list to read the Bible or by signing up to receive a Bible reading each day via email / link) or even extrinsic motivation (like having a Bible reading partner or by leading a bible study). Whatever you do, don’t neglect this…for your relationship with God is the foundation of everything else in your life!

May God bless you as you hear from him. Traveling with you…
Reed

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