4 Ways to Stay Connected to God’s Word

I think I have mentioned before that I am a single missionary serving the Lord in Peterborough, England.

There are not many days that I don’t encounter some kind of adventure. It might be learning something about the culture of England or navigating through a new city driving on the other side of the road or maybe dealing with a “flat” battery in my car. Just a normal day in the life of a single missionary, right?

​It was on a recent Sunday morning that I walked to my frost-covered car and found that the battery was dead or “flat” as we say here.

Thankfully, I made a few phone calls to cover my responsibilities at church and was met with the offer for a lift to the service and help later in the day to jump-start the car as well as help to get the battery replaced. 

Why am I telling you all this? Because it started some thoughts about how our Christian lives at times resemble this situation.

• Have you ever felt like the energy has just run out in your Christian life?
• Have you felt weak, struggling to find the power to accomplish anything for the Lord?
• Have you felt frustrated and even in despair at these struggles?

Maybe you are running your Christian life on a flat battery!

Now I am not a car mechanic, but I do know that my car has great potential to transport me from place to place all the time. Every time I get in the driver’s seat, I expect that when I turn the ignition switch, the car will rev to life. Simply speaking, none of that happens without a fully charged battery which gives a surge of power to the components of the engine to make it start. (Don’t worry…this is as far as we take this car analogy!)
 
What is the battery in our Christian lives? I asked a number of my close friends what they thought about this question and all of them agreed with my initial thought—It is GOD’S WORD! Any believer who tries to live life disconnected from God’s Word will find a consistent problem with having the necessary empowering to accomplish anything for God. 
 
Now I remember as a young driver in my teens, there were a few times that my dad instructed my sisters and me about things that would drain the battery in the car—things like leaving the lights on or leaving a door ajar for too long.

There's also things that can drain our Christian battery, drawing us away from our source of  strength.

Here are just a few:

1. Neglecting time with God each day or going through the daily motions to check off our duty.
2. Avoiding church attendance or even avoiding sitting under preaching when we do attend.
3. Focusing on ourselves so much that we are not serving others or sharing the Gospel.
4. Thinking we are too busy for the necessary time in prayer with the Lord we desperately need.
5. Making a habit of serving others out of duty and not dealing with our own spiritual needs.

I have to admit that I've often been guilty of draining my Christian battery in these areas. The remedy to these problems is not a new battery as I needed in my car. The remedy is to purposefully immerse yourself in God’s Word. It is not about a magic number of minutes or hours spent in God’s Word. It is about the need to read it, study it, meditate on it, and just allow the truths of His Word to wash over you renewing your mind, refreshing your soul, and recharging your Christian battery.

One of the places I like to go for a recharge is Psalm 119. Almost every verse, in the longest chapter of the Bible, refers to God’s Word—what it does for us, how we should respond to it, and what a blessing it is to us!

So, how do we stay connected to God’s Word in this new year? 

Here are 4 ways:

1. Purposeful time planned to daily read and study God’s Word and commune with Him in prayer (2 Timothy 2:15 & James 5:16).
2. Consistent attendance in a church that unapologetically preaches God’s Word (Hebrews 10:25).
3. Planning ways to live out the principles learned from God’s Word by serving in your home, community, and the local church (Romans 12:9-16).
4. Prayerfully seeking and taking advantage of “doors of utterance” to share the Gospel with unbelievers (Ephesians 6:19 & Colossians 4:3).

This list is not exhaustive by any means, but each one is based on the foundation of being in God’s Word. These are things most Christians know they should be doing, but often they are neglected. Bathing our minds, hearts, and lives in God’s Word is the source of our power to live the Christian life (Colossians 3:16-17). It's the recharge we need for our Christian batteries.

Today, at the start of a new year, is a great time to check the status of your Christian battery. Have the events of the past several months stolen your power and drained the life out of your desire to serve the Lord and be in His Word? May I encourage you today to go to the Lord and ask Him to “jump-start” your Christian battery? Maybe you need a Godly friend to help you be accountable this year to keep your battery charged! Don’t let this year be a year where you struggle to run on your “flat” battery! Let the Word of God encourage and edify you and evangelize those unbelievers around you!

​What things drain your Christian battery the quickest and what do you do to recharge it?