This year, I’ve chosen to read through the Bible in a year, and it’s been challenging at times to stay on track. Even when I’m traveling, I try to stay on course with my readings, picking up small slots of time to get in God’s Word. When I’m pushing myself to do it, I find I’m more motivated to continue and I gain more from its truths.
A bunch of us are using a text chain to keep each other accountable with this, sending encouragements, verses and questions to each other as we go. When I read something I really wrestle with and I can’t find the answer to, in addition to diving into deeper research of the topic, I can also reach out to these guys. Not one question goes unanswered and I gain great interpretations from men who have been studying the Bible for years.
The Bible is full of amazing truths. Beginning my reading in the book of Genesis, it’s amazing to see God’s creative hand in everything, and how generations have evolved. Seeing where we are today and where we started from is extremely different. In a way, I think it can be harder to choose to follow God this age than it was back then. The first generations didn’t have hundreds of religions to sort through, they didn’t have as many luxuries and distractions as we have today, and they needed to rely on God for everything. They were far more aware of their own accountability before God than we are today.
In today’s age we have cars, houses, entertainment and countless luxuries to steal our attention away from the One who provides it all for us. Technology tempts us to forget our dependency on God. But in the book of Job, we see a man who, like us, seemed to have it all. Until he had everything taken away from him. After losing his family, his possessions and his health, he didn’t curse God and turn away from Him. Job had a deep trust in God that was stronger than his situation. Not only that, he had an incredible amount of fear for the Lord; he didn’t stop talking about how afraid he was of God’s great power! Which made me think: Are we really afraid of God? Yes, we may believe God is watching us, but are we obeying Him in a way that causes us to shake in our boots?
The fear of the Lord is a powerful motivator. God is our Judge; I think we too often forget this. He loves us as a Father and wants what’s best for us, but He is not reluctant to put us in our place — a place of great humility. This is how we need to view our Heavenly Father.
Being able to stay in God’s Word, day in and day out, reading these stories from followers of God is inspiring. With the information, guidance and encouragement we get from this book, we can then go out into the world with the truth in our hearts. These God-inspired stories come from experiences with God that His people are sharing with us — truths we need to learn from. Why wouldn’t we take the time to listen?
Read it, seek to understand it, and challenge yourself to go out there and live it out!
— Luke Weaver, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher
The Increase, part of the Sports Spectrum Network, is a community of Christian pro athletes sharing their personal stories of the decrease of self and the increase of Christ (John 3:30). Visit TheIncrease.com for more stories and videos.
