Close the Book; Move Along

Each morning at work, I make a list of what I need to do that day.  It makes me feel organized (I'm debating whether it makes me organized, or not).  The first item on the list each day is Devotional.  I use an old method of prioritizing my list that learned years ago -- A for those items that are important to the goals I've set, B for those that are less important, and C for those that aren't really important.  Each item then also gets a number, so A1 is the most important item for that day, A2 is next, etc.

Devotional gets A1.  In order to check it off my list, I read a daily devotional and then blog -- two daily disciplines.

This morning I picked up my devotional book, and I began reading.  To be honest, this week's writer is not leading me to any new insights or "ah-ha" moments.  Nothing in what I'm reading is bringing me any closer to God.  Do you ever feel that way?  As I tried to read, I remembered something I had read long ago.  "If you are bored with your devotional time, then God probably is, too.  Change it."  So, right in the middle of a sentence, I closed the book and put it back on the shelf.  The Bible Study I am a part of is reading its way through Luke, so I picked up my Bible and read this week's reading.  And there is was -- the ah-ha moment that brought me closer to God -- two of them, actually.

I'm reminded of Jesus' statement:  "Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." (Luke 2:27)  We are not created to get stuck in meaningless devotionals; devotionals are created for us, to serve a purpose.  If you're bored, so is God, so move along.