What is the missing ingredient in your walk with Christ?

Are you reading your Bible every day, always picking up today where you left off yesterday?

A pastor who does not read his Bible every day, dismissed this very sound biblical counsel [and justified his lackadaisical attitude towards daily fellowship with God through His Word] by telling me that it is my gift of teaching that singles me out and draws me into the Word of God every single day. 

I was stunned by the implication that I am somehow special among Christians because of this discipline in my life. The suggestion that daily Bible reading is a rare and unnecessary habit for "average" Christians [and this coming from a pastor, a shepherd of God's flock!] astounded me.

I begged to differ with him. It is not my gift of teaching that draws me into the Word of God every morning along with my first sip of coffee. It is my desire to know my Creator, to put Him first by visiting with Him every day, and to walk in victory and fellowship with Him. That is what draws me into His awesome LIFE-GIVING Word. 

Jesus is the WORD [In the beginning was the WORD...] and he said, "The WORD I speak to you is Spirit and is LIFE. I recall Jesus' answer when Satan came tempting him, trying to trip him up and bring him down; He said, "It is WRITTEN!" 

Spiritual warfare begins and ends with having knowledge of, faith in, and standing on, the WRITTEN WORD OF GOD. 

How can we know what is WRITTEN, unless we read it?

How do I know if I am hearing the Word of God in my spirit [and not the voice of a stranger] if I do not have knowledge of the WRITTEN Word of God? 

Isaiah, who prophetically saw further into the future than any other biblical writer, compared everything that claimed to be knowledge of God, with what had already been WRITTEN. 

My gift of teaching? That is not the reason I open my Bible and read every day, always picking up today where I left off yesterday, but my hope and prayer is that the Holy Spirit can use my gift to win souls, make disciples, and bring strength and encourage to his people through the power of the Written WORD OF GOD.