Making Devotional Reading Harder

Back in January, after a brief flirtation with Oswald Chambers (that went nowhere, may I add), I settled in with Daily Light for my 2011 devotional reading.  Scripture snippets, arranged topically by the devout Bagster children back in the 1800s -- what could be more accessible for a daily shot of inspiration?  Yet as the weeks went by, the approachable format held my interest less and less, until eventually the stodgy blue volume sat unread on my nightstand and I began to feel the untethered, vaguely dirty malaise of the Christian who is not reading the Bible.

In a sermon or two, He whispered that I might revisit the Book of Common Prayer I picked up a few years ago.  I scoffed at this, of course, figuring the Lord must have forgotten that I don't have a lot of time and anyway, I go a Reform church now.  A few more weeks of Word-deprivation went by, and I decided to Google what Tim Keller does for his quiet time.  In this post, he reveals that he reads (of course) the lectionary from the Book of Common Prayer.

I finally got the hint and decided to give it a try a week ago, and I'm hooked 

It's a little awkward: the only way that works for me is to spread out my Bible, my Book of Common Prayer, and a notebook along with a couple of pens on a huge table and then go hunting and pecking through the Scriptures according to what's on the docket in the lectionary.  It's work.  This Bible's seen more action in the last seven days than it had in the seven months prior.  I'm even finally starting to put a dent in the gilt edging. 

In other words, this is not like jamming through Daily Light.  And maybe it's exactly because this kind of reading demands that I show up, that I engage, that it's so much more rewarding than any other kind of devotional reading I've ever done.

Image credit: The Jesus Storybook Bible