The One Thing We Must Have

When Dennis Kinlaw was a freshman in college, he had a hunger to please God and to know Him better.* He knew a senior who had remarkable maturity and decided to ask him how he could grow more quickly in his Christian life. The friend asked how much time he spent alone with God. Dr. Kinlaw is sure he exaggerated the amount of time. The friend responded simply, "Double it." That closed their conversation.

His friend's pattern was to have quiet time first thing in the morning. Kinlaw had a bakery job that began quite early, and the prospect of following his friend's example was not an easy one for him, but he set his alarm clock earlier and began to try to do what his friend suggested.

Dr. Kinlaw states, "Only God knows how many times I fell asleep on my knees as I tried to begin my day with God." But he has no regrets about that because a habit was being formed without which his life would have been tragically empty. Slowly what he did in duty became a delight. He found he could live without other things, but he could not live without time with Christ.

One of the main reasons many don't read the Word regularly is not so much that they don't want to, but that they don't plan to. They get up day after day knowing that significant times of Bible reading should be part of their lives, but little is read. They don't know where to read because nothing has been planned. 

"One thing that helped me was asking God to increase my desire," one lady said. Then she added, "But whether you sense desire or not, just do it!" If we don't sense desire, we should do what we would do if we had a consuming hunger for His presence. Desire will follow.

Dear Lord, help me to remember that the priority I give to Bible reading will have a definite bearing on how much intimacy I have with You.

"Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long" (Psalm 119:97).*Adapted from This Day With the Master