As a minister, one of the questions I hear most frequently concerns spending time in God’s Word. How often should I read? How much? Questions like these surround developing the discipline of Bible reading.

Simply put, a disciple is one who follows someone. In more exact terms, a disciple is one who desires to become as much like Jesus Christ as possible.

The best way to do this is by spending time with him. But how do you spend time with someone who walked the earth physically a couple of millennia ago? He isn’t here physically to have a conversation with, so what do you do?

The next best way is to spend time with those who knew him best, or in his own thoughts and writings. This is the primary reason we have God’s Word in our lives. He isn’t physically here to speak to us face to face, but he did leave a very detailed set of books that describe his nature and character to us so that we can be as much like him as possible.

Reading the Bible daily is one of the most important aspects of being a disciple. In fact, it is not a stretch to state that unless you are not spending time in God’s Word on a daily basis, or at the very least, a consistently frequent basis, you cannot be growing spiritually. It’s as simple as that.

One of the key aspects of capitalizing upon God’s Word is to simply spend time with it. Simply spend time reading it. Allow it to flow like a narrative, and soak it in simply as a reader.

This is not Bible study or deep meditation. There is a place for each of those, certainly, but this is just the simplest of readings.

I make it a goal to expose myself to every bit of God’s Word on an annual basis, and much of it more than once a year. Other disciplines in my life help me to study it, and memorize it, and really dig into it. But each day, I begin the day with several chapters of the Bible, reading simply out of my desire to read it.

Occasionally, I will find something that stands out to me or raises questions. In these cases, I make a quick note or jot a thought in the margin to come back to later, but I continue reading without disruption as much as possible. It’s helpful to get a grand overview of God’s message to mankind, and his message to me.

The main reason I do this is because of God’s love. This collection of books is much like a love letter, and I read it to pull that love from the pages of God’s truth. This discipline connects me to the heart of God more than any other. And, in my desire to be as much like Christ as possible, connecting to his heart is essential.

That is what it means to be a disciple.

Question: How do you go about simply reading the Bible? Does it connect you to the heart of God in a significant way? You can leave a comment by clicking here.