Journey to Judges

Like many procrastinating perfectionists, when I was super busy, I bemoaned the “lack of time” to commit to reading my Bible and praying daily; then when I have the time, it still doesn’t happen regularly. Recently, I felt convicted about not being more devoted to my devotions and determined (once again) to do something about it.

The first step: stop calling it “devotions.” There’s nothing wrong with the term (just like there’s nothing wrong with calling it “quiet time” or “QT” like I did in college, or the popular term used with teens, “Devo”), but for me, the gentle euphemism makes it easier to push it aside in favor of another task. Calling it what it is – reading my Bible and praying, or better yet, “spending time with God” – cuts to the heart and refocuses my attention on WHY I want to do this.

Though I do enjoy reading, for lack of a better word, devotionals (especially Our Daily Bread and Ligonier Ministries’ Table Talk), I decided to bypass them for now, choosing to read the book of Judges “unaided.” As a young child going to church, I learned many stories contained in Judges but hadn’t read them for myself. It has been interesting reading (Ehud and the fat king in Judges 3; the woman Jael who lured the leader of the enemy army into her tent and killed him by hammering a peg into his head, in chapter 4). No wonder Judges gets glossed over in Sunday school. “Um, what lesson can we learn from this story, kids?”