Like many other smartphone/tablet owners that I know, rather than bring my Bible to church and Bible study each week, I use a a Bible app installed on my smartphone/tablet. My Bible app of choice, and the app of choice for pretty much everyone I know is YouVersion. If you have a smartphone or tablet and haven't checked out this app, I suggest you give it a try. It has some pretty great features, including:- Easily get to the text you want by tapping to select book, chapter, verse
- Support for a ton of translations and the ability to easily switch between them. The iPad version even allows you to view two translations side by side.
- Some translations can be downloaded to your device so you can use them when you don't have a cellular or WiFi connection.
- The ability to add notes to a verse and have them saved in the cloud so you can view them across all your devices.
- Display all verses containing a search phrase.
- Built in reading plans, some with associated devotional text
So what does this app have to do with the title of the blog? I'm not sure about you, but I struggle to spend time reading my Bible on a daily basis. It's not that I don't think it's important...I do. In fact, this last weekend the pastor used a great illustration to hammer this truth home. We all know that our smartphone/tablet must be connected to a power source on a regular basis or it's worthless. It's the same with us. We must charge up regularly by spending time in prayer and reading our Bible. I know this, and have experienced its truth in my life but yet I still struggle.
It's not that I don't have the time, although that is my excuse. It's that I don't make the time. Much like regular exercise, which I also struggle with, if we don't set aside a specific time in our routine to spend time with God, it won't happen.
I have a ~1 hour commute to work in the morning, and I've found that I can use some of that time to pray. I know this isn't the most ideal prayer environment due to the distraction of driving, but I've still managed to have some good prayer times. While I may be able to pray (eyes open) during my commute, it's probably not a good idea to try and read my Bible.
Recently, it hit me there was an easy solution to this dilemma. I don't have a line-in port on my car stereo, but that doesn't stop me from using my smartphone to listen to Pandora or songs that I've downloaded. (Yes,I use one of those cassette tapes from the 90's that was used to connect your portable CD player to your car stereo). I mentioned above that the YouVersion Bible app has some built in reading plans. The word "some" is an understatement, there are a ton of plans, both topical and thru-the-Bible. Many of the translations even include the ability for the app to read the text to you. Starting to see where I'm going with this? I started a plan and let the YouVersion app read me the text through my car stereo. It's working great, and I often find myself letting the app read beyond that day's reading. If you struggle with spending time reading your Bible, why not let the Bible read itself to you on your way to work or during some other regular activity?
Don't have a way to play audio from your phone during your commute? Still, check out the YouVersion reading plans on your smartphone. I'm pretty sure that at least once during the day, instead of checking what your friends are saying on Facebook, you could see what God is saying in his Word.
What do you do to make sure you are getting charged up regularly?
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