Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Planning”
Our Bible verse for today: “Again and again the Lord has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention. Each time the message was this: ‘Turn from the evil road you are traveling and from the evil things you are doing.” Jeremiah 25:4-5 (NLT)
Our thought for today: “We must plan to learn and grow.”
Do you have a “plan” for learning and growing as a disciple of Jesus Christ? Most Christians don’t. Many Christians do have a habit of attending a worship service on a somewhat regular basis, and that’s a good starting point, but many do not have a well thought-out plan in place to actually learn and grow in their faith.
Instead, they end up like the Israelites the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah was speaking to. In their case the Lord had repeatedly sent them messengers to preach and teach the Word of God, and the people had listened, but the message did not sink in and there was no transformation in their lives. Instead, they left the Temple at the end of the service and went right back to their sinful lives, as if they had never heard the message to begin with.
They were hearing but they weren’t learning, and they certainly were not growing.
As the followers of Jesus we need to be intentional about discipleship. We have to have a plan for it. Here are a few tips that you might find helpful in developing a plan of your own:
- Give God the first part of your day. As soon as you wake up in the morning immediately go to prayer and Bible study. That way, no matter what else happens throughout the day you will have started the day with God.
- Use a Bible reading plan. For daily Bible reading I have found it helpful to use a Bible that is divided into 365 daily readings. There are many formats to choose from but each accomplishes the same thing, it leads you to read the Bible cover-to-cover in a year.
- Be a member of a small group or Sunday school class and actually attend it. Then, once you are there, participate in the class. Follow along with the lesson, ask questions, and participate in the discussion.
- Faithfully attend worship services every Sunday and fully participate in them. Sing the songs to God. Listen closely to the sermon, following along and taking notes.
Those are just a few things we can each do to make sure the practice of our faith is more than just mindless and meaningless routine. We have to be intentional about learning and growing. We have to have a plan for it.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 