Letting the Word Work in You (and Your Family)

January 22, 2025

“For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13 NASB95)

The word of God is alive and powerful.  In the above verse, we see that the word of God will go to work in anyone who: 1) receives the word, 2) accepts it as the words of God and not man, and 3) believes the word.  What exactly will the word of God do within us?  It will transform us.  It will enlighten us.  It will strengthen us.  It will comfort us.  What blessings await us if we will diligently take the word of God into our hearts and unite it with faith!

Given all of this, isn’t it true that there is nothing more important for us to do than to infuse the word of God into our home life?  Won’t the word of God work powerfully within our spouses and children?  Won’t it bring blessings to our families? Won’t it set our children onto the best path in life?

I want to encourage you to spend time in the word with your family.  One of the best and simplest ways to do this is to listen to the word together.  This is something that my own family has started to do in a more systematic way.  We gather in the living room after dinner for 15-20 minutes (most evenings) and listen to the word via a Bible app.  We do have a goal of reading through the Bible this year, but that is not the main goal. Our main goal is this: to fill our minds with God’s word on a regular basis so that He can work in us. 

We hope to make this a lasting family tradition.  I encourage you to start a similar tradition with your family, if you haven’t already. I know it will be time well spent, and it will create fond memories for everyone.  I believe your children will enjoy it, and you will enjoy hearing their questions about God.  You can and should tailor this to your own needs:  perhaps you want to take turns reading aloud instead of using an app; perhaps your children would benefit from shorter or longer readings; perhaps you would like to start with the New Testament only.  Do what will work best for your family.  If you miss some evenings here and there, don’t fret about it.  Don’t give up.  The goal is not sticking exactly to the schedule, but to be in the word regularly, together.                   

May God bless us and work in us as we take in His holy word.

—Scott Colvin

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Posted by Scott Colvin

Encountering God in the New Year

January 9, 2025

I would like to encourage each of us to be Bible readers in 2025.  In a world where there are always things eagerly competing for our attention (many of them good things), it is important to commit ourselves to hearing the voice of God clearly and often.  There is nothing more important that we could do.

The word of God is eternal.  “Surely the people are grass.  The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:7-8 NAS95)   When we pick up the word of God, we hold the eternal in our hands.  When we read the word of God and reflect on it, we fill our minds and hearts with everlasting truth. 

The word of God is transformative. If we will give ourselves to hearing and heeding the word, it will change us (as God allows).  Sometimes it causes in us a radical, immediate change, and other times it molds and shapes us steadily over time as the words take root in our hearts. 

Don’t you want this in your life?  Is something holding you back from regular Bible reading?

Setting a reading schedule is a great idea, but don’t get overly focused on the schedule.  What I mean is, if you have determined to read every day, don’t get discouraged and quit if you miss a day (or a few of them).  Just start back up again.  Reading at a pace slower than we intended is infinitely better than not reading at all.  And don’t get discouraged if you come upon sections of scripture that you don’t understand right away.  You are reading the words of God—some things are going to be hard to understand.  Also, don’t be deterred from reading because you feel overwhelmed at the thought of reading the entire Bible.  If you struggle with this, why not determine to read the New Testament?  Or the Psalms?  Or one chapter of Proverbs each day for a month?  Or perhaps you could choose a book of the Bible and get into it very deeply by slowly meditating on every word.

And in all of our reading, allow me to encourage you to not see it as a checklist to accomplish each day.  It is much more than that.  It is an encounter with the Living God.  It is time spent in the heart of God.  It is building a relationship with Him.  Let me also encourage you, as you read, to ask the Lord to be your teacher.  Let us pray as David did, “Make me know Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths.  Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day.” (Psalm 25:4-5 NAS95) May God lead each of us in His truth and teach us His ways.

—Scott Colvin

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Posted by Scott Colvin

Growth in the New Year

January 1, 2025

My hope and prayer for all of you, and for myself, is that we will grow spiritually in the new year.  I pray that you will pursue spiritual growth with renewed focus and vigor, resulting in a rich, intimate communion with the Lord.  Spiritual growth is something that must be pursued—it doesn’t just happen on its own.  I want to encourage you to pursue an intentional program of growth in the year ahead. 

What might this look like?  First of all, we need to dedicate ourselves to being in the word of God.  Reading the Bible is not just reading any other book; it is actively taking in words of life that flow from the very mouth of God.  The word of God will change us!  It will transform us from the inside out, if we will allow it.  The word of God will bring light to our path and life to our souls.  I encourage you to begin (or begin again) a plan of reading and reflecting upon the word of God in your daily life in 2025.

Second, I encourage you to heed the words of the apostle Peter, who showed us how to grow.  “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence…” (2 Peter 1:5a NASB95) With this statement Peter begins what is sometimes called the ladder of spiritual growth.  It is a list of qualities all Christians should pursue.  Each quality builds on the previous one and leads us to growth.  But notice where the process begins.  It all starts with making every effort to supply moral excellence.  What is moral excellence?  It is an uncommon, excellent, virtuous character.  Moral excellence is doing what is right and good in every situation.  It is choosing to do what is right even in the “little things.” It is choosing to do what is right even when no one is watching.  If we commit ourselves to moral excellence, we will grow, but if we don’t, growth will be stopped in its tracks.  I encourage you to decide that in 2025 you will pursue what is excellent with all your heart.

Think of where the Lord will take us in the new year if we will seek Him and stay near to Him!  The future is very bright, no matter what challenges lie ahead.  May God grant that each of us will grow in our faith in 2025.   

—Scott Colvin

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Posted by Scott Colvin

Finding Time for Bible Reading

December 28, 2018

One of the transformative habits in my life has been regular Bible reading. I use the term regular as opposed to daily, because I miss days on occasion, and I suspect that everyone does. We have days when we are crushed with activities and days when we are exhausted. But even with missed days, I’ve been able to complete my reading goals.

For someone who has not yet established a habit of regular Bible reading, the Bible itself is intimidating. A Bible printed with a standard font will run about 1200 pages. 1200 PAGES! But we must remember that our printed Bible is actually a library of books. If I were to hand you one of the gospels printed by itself, it would be pamphlet to small paperback in size. It wouldn’t be intimidating at all. 24 books can be read in 15 minus or less. 8 books will take about 30 minutes. 9 books will take an hour or less. 14 books will take 2 hours or less. 6 books will take 2 ½ hours. 3 books will take 3 ½ hours. Jeremiah will take about 4 hours, and Psalms will take about 4 ½ hours. Here’s a chart that gives you an idea of how long it takes to read the Bible.

Bible Reading Times

Source of chart is https://www.crossway.org/articles/infographic-you-can-read-more-of-the-bible-than-you-think/. The article contains other interesting charts.

You can make an important life change with 6-12 minutes a day. I would encourage you to start small. Set a goal of reading the New Testament for example. Challenge yourself to become regular in your reading.

Seventy-seven percent of the U.S has a smart phone. Great Bible apps exist. I would encourage YouVersion because of its audio collection, and it’s free. I would also suggest OliveTree which has a free starter version but is better for study and has resources at a reasonable price. The beauty of the smart phone is that you can use wait time for reading your Bible. You can always have a Bible with you. Listening to audio also helps many people. They may listen to the Bible on their commute. You can’t beat the free audio in YouVersion. Audio mp3 files and disks are available too, but free streaming is the cheapest way to go.

Finding time is a matter of setting Bible reading as a priority and commit to a time in your day that works best for you.

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Posted by Russell Holden