Too Busy Not To Read ---Inktober 17 #journal

This advertisement was part of the Wall Street Journal's #MakeTime campaign in 2015, featuring incredibly busy executives, industry leaders, and cultural activists who make reading WSJ a necessary habit in their schedules.

The sub headline for the campaign is "Read Ambitiously."  In these business leaders' eyes, it is not something they feel forced to do, but they see this daily reading as what equips them to make wise decisions and directs their attention to the most fruitful use of their time.  It gives them perspective.  And it helps them to differentiate between what is important and what is merely sensational.

If a newspaper can have that kind of impact on people in business, how much more does daily Bible reading have for all of us?  It is not words printed on recyclable paper, but the very Word of God.

In my own experience, it enables me to hit "reset" every morning, to refocus on God's bigger picture and the significance of His details in my day. Scripture informs me not just about God but about the world, it shapes who I am and consequently impacts what I do.  It is not some arbitrary ancient writing, but connects, infiltrates and impacts my day, and it affects everyone around me. God's Word gives me a fresh perspective on my day, my life, my work, and my relationships.

There is a direct connection between what I read in God's Word and the day that looms ahead of me.  I can't afford not to read it.  By making God's Word first, He places ideas in my thoughts that change my day, and often, save me from a wild goose chase or heading literally in the wrong direction.  And He changes my heart, so that I know how to respond.

As one of my pastors once said, "Every time I open God's Word, it changes me and everyone around me."

It is not just something else I ought to do.
It directly impacts everything I do.

When I read in the early morning, I write down a verse or even part of a verse that God impresses on my heart through a particular passage. And I take it with me into my day.  Those same words quite often rise to the surface during the day like a reminder to refocus on God's purposes, a reminder to be faithful to Him in all things, even in this.

It is not just another obligation to check off a list.
Intentional daily time in God's Word
                        changes our lives.
It is not a matter of keeping up with a reading plan
or a schedule,
          but marinating in it,
                meditating on it,
           and letting His Word dwell within.


I will not enter my house
or get into my bed,
I will not give sleep to my eyes
or slumber to my eyelids,
until I find a place for the LORD,
a dwelling place for the
           Mighty One of Jacob.

                       Psalm 132 3-5

A place in my day,
in my schedule,
in my heart.