14: What to Read in your Bible when you don’t know What to Read
Have you ever sat down to have your devotional or quiet time and were wondering what you should read that day in your Bible? Maybe you just finished reading a specific book of the Bible or you finished a devotional book and you are just not sure where to go today.
While there is no bad place to go in your Bible, since it is all inspired by God and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, I love to rush to the Psalms.
The Psalms were written as a prayer book and a hymn book. It is a wonderful part of Scripture that teaches us how to worship, how to sing songs to the Lord, how to cry out to Him and how to find assurance and comfort in His sovereign hand. There is pretty much everything for everybody in the Psalms.
My desire when I open my Bible to read each day is to worship the Lord, to hear His voice, to understand the depths of His grace as is revealed through Jesus. The Psalms provide me with that every time. For instance, this morning I read Psalm 143:8
“Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust.
Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.”
Those words were perfect to get me started today. They told me that I rely EVERY MORNING on the steadfast love of the Lord. My life is sustained by this steadfast love, a love that never gets tired of me, a love that is always forgiving me, a love that is always encouraging me, a love that never fails me.
This verse told me that today I will trust in the Lord. I do have options for other things to trust in, but the Lord is the best option. All the other options will disappoint me but the Lord never disappoints me.
This verse also tells me that the Lord will guide me in the way I should go. Do you ever feel directionless? Do you ever have days in which you are just not sure how they will go due to the intimidating forces you are facing?
The other day a couple asked to meet with me and they invited me over to their house. They did not say anything else except, “We need you to meet with us.” Well, when a couple asks their pastor to come and meet with them and they don’t tell you the reason, you have a pretty good idea it is going to be something very heavy. So throughout the day, I relied on this truth, “that the Lord would guide me in the way that I should go.” So, throughout the day I just prayed that the Lord would give me the wisdom and grace to minister to these dear friends in the best way that I could. (And by the way, it was a very heavy conversation, but it was also an amazing story of God’s transforming grace in their lives!)
Finally, this verse encourages me to lift up my soul to the Lord. If you want to start your day off right then getting your soul in line with the Lord is a good idea. We desire each day to have peace, to be encouraged, to live fully and abundantly, and to be able to help and serve others. One of the keys to living this way is to abide in Christ, to have our soul set on Jesus and listen to His Spirit as we walk through the day. Jesus wants to care for our souls, so let him care for your soul. Lift up your burdens to him, meditate on His Words, whisper prayers of worship throughout the day.
Friends, the Lord cares so much about you, He loves you so much! Today, allow Jesus to be the One that you put your trust in, allow Jesus to be the One who guides you, let Jesus be the One who nourishes your soul. This is the gospel message, the good news that God has come to save His people. Jesus has come to save you, rescue you and give you an abundant life full of joy and hope.
This is the gospel that changes everything!
Photo by William Bout on Unsplash