Why a Devotional Life is Important

None of us would ever dream of only eating once a week, once a month, once every 6 months. If this is true, why do so many Christians only eat from God’s word every so often?

In this segment from our archives, Mike Johnston and Jeff Colon discuss why a vibrant walk with God requires daily time in the Word as well as how to establish that time in the morning when everything in us just wants to go back to bed.

Mike: Jeff, we want to continue on in our series talking about redeeming the time. In today's program we want to talk about redeeming our time in the sense of spending time in God's word. Why do you think that is so important especially in the day and age that we live in?  

Jeff: Well Mike, I think we don't realize the atmosphere of this world and how intoxicating it can be to our spiritual eyes. And, we don't realize how much this society we're living in today can deaden our spiritual lives and our need for spiritual sustenance in our lives.  

Mike: Talk a little about that, the need for spiritual sustenance. I know that so many people in the church, and certainly it was an aspect of my life before coming to Pure Life Ministries, that I just go to church on Sunday or maybe on Wednesday, and then the rest of the time I just live my life. Why is it so critical? Why do we need spiritual sustenance?  

Jeff: Well Mike, I believe like it says in that scripture in Ephesians 5, that we need to have a walk that is circumspect. In other words, we need to be aware, we need to be alert. Jesus many times exhorts us to be sober and that verse basically tells us one way to do that is to redeem our time because the days are evil. It's just imperative Mike that we need to realize that our time is valuable. We can't just squander it away because once it's gone we can't gain it. And, I believe one key feature in redeeming our time is really getting into the Word of God.  

Mike: You mentioned that the days are evil. Certainly it is true that everywhere we look—of course, we're dealing with men coming out of sexual sin here in our Residential Program—we are just bombarded with the messages of the enemy who is out to destroy our souls, and, even if we are a believer, to destroy the testimony we have for God and the intimacy that God wants to have with us.  

Jeff: That really is so true Mike. And, as Christians we're called to have the mind of Christ or, if I can say this way, think Biblically. We don't realize how much the message of this world in so many different ways that it comes to us through media, t.v., magazines, and just being out in this world, really does affect our thinking and our perspectives on life and how much we need the Word of God. We've counseled so many people who have come to our programs, and what you come to see is that many Christians, many people who would call themselves believers really don't look at life through the lens of Scripture. A lot of times they're seeing it how the world perceives things and that's why their lives are not where they need to be in the Lord. We need God's perspectives, we need the word as a lamp, a light unto our path as we go through our lives in this world.

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Mike: You know, even the men who go through our Residential Program, those who struggle after they leave the program almost inevitably—if you ask him what changed after they left the program—will tell you, “Well I got busy and I stopped spending time in the Word of God. I stopped my prayer time.” That’s where you really see, even in a man where something tremendous happened in his heart while he was here, that without that we’re just left to the whims of whatever is blowing around us.  

Jeff: It's so true Mike, and I many times use David as an example. Here's a man that walked with God but we know what happened. But, at one time in David's life before he fell with Bathsheba, he understood the need for God. In Psalm 63 verse 1 he says, “God you're my God. Early will I seek you. My soul thirsts for you, my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.” And that verse to me really depicts a Christian's journey through life. When we're here on earth we're kind of like sojourners passing through, but it's a barren wasteland. There's nothing in this world that's going to feed our soul spiritually. We really need to learn that only God can give us what we need and there's nothing in this world that's going to create a vibrant walk with God. So, we need to understand our need to be seeking God early and getting in his word and finding our nourishment from him.  

Mike: All right, now you just laid out one of the first stumbling blocks for guys. Seek the Lord early. You know, the truth is Jeff, that—and we all have these days—I have days when I get up and I just want to roll over and go back to bed, go back to sleep. We have a dear saint that comes to Pure Life Ministries and I like the way he says, “there are days when you just have to pick yourself up by the scruff of you neck and drag yourself into the Word of God.” Talk a little bit to those who maybe don't sense this hunger that you're talking about for the Word of God. What do you do when you don't have that hunger?  

Jeff: Well first of all, I would encourage them to let God make them hungry. Yes, that's what I said, allow God to make you hungry. In other words, it means I have a decision to make. God will establish a hunger in our lives, but what I have found for myself is that if I'm not reading the word, I'm not going to be hungry for it. But, when I get in the word, just like when I went in the program myself and was required to read the Bible, what I found that after doing that for a while was it started creating a hunger in my life. And, I would encourage anyone out there that if you don't have that hunger get in the Bible, get over Psalm 119. I've used that Psalm many times when I have felt that hunger waning in my life and there are wonderful prayers in there that we can pray to the Lord, even though maybe they're not a reality in our own lives, we could pray through that Psalm. It takes about 20 minutes to pray through that Psalm and you could do that every day and I guarantee you, if you do that God will begin to create a hunger in your heart for His word.  

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Mike: Yeah that is so true. That is my testimony I know. Sometimes when we think about the Lord meeting our needs we think of, well, I have a need for a job, or, I have a need for healing or whatever it may be. But, what I have learned in recent years is that even the things that God is calling us to do, if we don't have it in us—and back in our flesh we don't have it in us—if we will ask him to give us that desire he is faithful to do that.  

Jeff: Absolutely. He says if we ask anything according to His Will it's done, and I believe it's God's will that we read His Word and actually Paul admonishes us to allow the word of Christ to dwell richly in us in all wisdom. So, if God is telling us to do that, we're asking him to give us a hunger for that, well, he's going to do it.  

Mike: Yes, that's his heart and he wants to meet our needs. Let's just finish up on this: you just mentioned that verse, Colossians 3:16, “to allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly.” What I hear from that Scripture is that, yes we need to be in the Word of God, we need to be reading the Word of God and allowing the Word of God to get into us, but the other half of that is we need to be living out and walking out what God is showing us in His word.  

Jeff: Absolutely when that says “in all wisdom” to me again wisdom depicts a perspective in life. In other words, it means I govern and I live my life according to the perspectives of God's word.  

Mike: Amen. Well Jeff we appreciate your time and thanks so much for talking to us again about redeeming the time.  

Jeff: Thanks Mike.