A Practical Walk

A practical and actionable way to grow in your walk with God.

I heard an amazing sermon earlier this year. The practical advice given was what so many believers (or those wondering about the Bible) need to hear more of.

The speaker emphasized that this tip wasn’t going to change you overnight. You wouldn’t be an awful sinner one day and a perfect person the next. But he said if you put this into practice and consistently do it, over time you’ll grow.

Here was his advice: Read your Bible regularly.

It’s simple, but it’s true. If we say we believe the Bible we need to know what it says. Lately it’s been hitting me that so much of what is in the Bible is actually really practical, contrary to what some believe. But you have to be exposing yourself to it. And more than just letting your eyes glance over the words, you need to be thinking about it and actively engaged in what you’re reading. (Side note: I read an excellent book about reading comprehension and am currently reading another book about learning. If you’re not engaging with what you’re reading, their are helps out there. I’m hoping to do some book reviews in the future and I can tell you more about them then.)

He gave a simple strategy to follow to help you engage with what you’re reading, called the H.E.A.R method, which you can read about here. He made sure to emphasize this little reading/journaling method was just a tool, not God-given command of how you had to do it. I used it for a while and found it useful as it forced me to have to think about what I was reading. Now I’ve ended up changing it a bit, but the act of writing something, even if it’s short, about what I read helps it to sink in more.

But I really liked his point: It won’t change you over night, but it can over time if you’re consistent. It reminds me of exercise. If I go for a run today, I won’t be in better cardio health tomorrow. But if I run regularly for weeks and months, I’ll start to see that I can run further and faster.

What methods of Bible reading or study have you found most helpful?