Starting a daily Bible study pt. 1

As our GPS daily Bible study program launches this week, I am going to be sharing a series of posts  focused on how to implement and use the GPS guide. For some, this may be a brand new discipline, and I am hoping these thoughts will help you get started.

First, I want to say up front that I recognize that everyone is busy! I do not meet very many people who are just looking for stuff to do in order to pass the time. With that thought in mind, we have designed GPS to provide a “bite-size” piece of Bible reading and reflection. We are committed to providing a resource that is manageable for anyone and everyone to use in their life.

That being said, even with the simple format of the GPS guide, it does require a certain amount of time. I would say for most, you can work through each day’s reading and reflection questions in 15-30 minutes depending on how much time you want to spend reflecting on the questions.

So, the first step is finding that time!

What I want to encourage you to think about doing first as you seek to implement the GPS guide into your daily practices is to try to find a time that works best for you, and try to stick with that time everyday. When we place a new discipline within a pattern for our daily life, I think it greatly increases the chances that we will continue to invest in that discipline.

For some, that might mean that the first thirty minutes of the day are dedicated to GPS. For others, you might take the first few minutes when you sit down at your desk at the office to read through the GPS guide. It might be during your lunch break, during a mid-afternoon stretch, or just before you go to bed. It does not matter when you do your daily devotion time. What matters is that you find a time that works for you and try to stick with it.

Don’t be too legalistic about it. If you start out in the morning, but after 7-10 days that does not look like it’s going to work for you, try a different time. Many people carry the expectation that their daily devotion time must happen first thing in the morning, and while that works well for me, it may not work for everyone’s schedule. Find a time that works for you.

Once you’ve found a time that works for you, you are ready to think about finding the right “space.” I’ll be sharing more about finding “sacred space” tomorrow.

Categories: GPS