Back to the Book

Satan is always trying to get us off track. He constantly puts things in our path to distract us from what we should be doing. He doesn't come on the scene with a pointy tail and a trident, he uses stealth. He doesn't just say here's the wrong path why don't you take it; detours and side roads are his tactics. If he can get us to detour, he can get us to stop doing the work of the Lord. It doesn't take much, it just has to seem like a godly pursuit or look like something that is harmless. Getting us to lower our guard is the trick that leaves us vulnerable to attack.

I have recently taken up a study based on things that are going on in the world today. Not long into the study, I realized that my spiritual life was not as it should be. A few years back I bought a book, and the author said that he read the book of Proverbs, a chapter for each day of the month (i.e. the fourth chapter for the fourth of the month etc.) I started the practice myself. Very quickly, I found more in the reading of Proverbs than I did in reading the book that I paid twenty dollars for. My point is, sometimes what seems like a good thing to study, may take us away from studying the Word.

We need to look to the Bible for all of the concerns of life. Scripture speaks to all of them. II Timothy 3:16-17 Our studies need to stem from the Book, not the other way around. Remember church camp from when you were a kid, how it was such a spiritual high; do we wonder how retreats get us to such a close place with God, and not realize that there is a direct correlation to how much time in those retreats is spent in studying the Bible, listening to preaching (more than once per day) and worshiping in song.

Listen, day in and day out you have access to those very same things. You can study the Bible, listen to preaching (literally any time you want, thanks to podcasts) and sing your heart out in the shower or in the car. If you are feeling a little flat spiritually, then start your next retreat at home: download some sermons, study your Bible, sing praises and really talk to God about all that is in your heart the next time you pray. You don't have to be on a mountain to have a mountain top experience with God. God bless you all.