A few weeks ago a friend came to visit and brought a plant for me. It sits on my dresser across from the bed so I can see the pretty flowers. It looked great for awhile, but then one day it looked dead. So then I watered it. Surprisingly it came back to life! However another week passed, the plant looked dead, then I watered it, but it has not returned from the dead this time.

The same thing happens in our lives. We go along for awhile with everything being fine, forgetting or pushing aside God, we don’t need Him anyway since life is good. But difficulty comes and we find ourselves withering. We refocus on Christ, read the Bible and pray, and we come back to life. The difficulties don’t seem that bad. But we keep following this cycle, only calling on God when life isn’t good and easy. Pretty soon we’ll end up like my plant: dead, lifeless, no longer pretty.

One of the best habits I ever started was reading the Bible everyday. I would journal too writing down the verses that stood out to me and how it applied to my life. I did this for years. Then one day I didn’t read. I must have slept in longer or been in a rush. But that one choice made it easier to choose again not to read. I wasn’t turning my back on God. I was still very much following Him, just not making it a priority to read His Word.

I don’t think it’s a sin if I miss one day reading the Bible. I don’t do it because it’s a ritual. I read the Bible because it is life-giving. It shows me how to live, how to love others, what to do in difficulties, and how much God loves me. It’s like water for a plant. You can’t wait until its dead to water it. You need to give it attention everyday. Then it will sustain difficult seasons.

If you haven’t made a commitment to read the Bible everyday, start today. Turn to the very beginning and read a page. I guarantee you won’t regret that time.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God will stand forever. Isaiah 40:8