In a Minute

After about two months of watching it gather dust on my dresser, I decided to strap on my calorie and step counting armband this morning. Renewing my commitment to diet and exercise, I wanted to make sure that I could gauge exactly how I was doing at any moment throughout my day.

One of the most exciting things that I realized when first purchasing this system was that the experts really are correct, doing exercise burns calories long after the actual physical exertion is over. For example, when I am at rest, I am typically burning 1.7 calories per minute. When I go for a 30 minute run, I get up to somewhere around 12 calories per minute. This adds up to a really nice burn! But the best thing is, when I stop running and collapse on my couch in heap of exhaustion, my body is still working. Even two hours later, my digital display reflects the fact that I am still cruising along at a nice 4.2 calories per minute.

That thirty minutes of dedication and determination turns into hours of results.

The same is true of the time we spend in God's Word. How many times have I told myself that I don't have "enough time" to sit down and open my Bible? How many times have I stood in a group of moms nodding my head as we all agreed that someday, when the kids were "older," we'd be able to really dig deep, to memorize and truly study the Word of God? Many times.

What I am learning is that we DO have time now. The problem isn't actually how much time we do or do not have, it's our concept of what it takes to study the Bible. We envision ourselves sitting in a quiet room devoid of distractions and taking a good hour or two to envelop ourselves in the lessons God has laid out in front of us. But we all know that that scenario is almost impossible for those of us who have young children. And even those of us who aren't yet blessed with a family, or whose children have grown and gone off into the world, you are still hounded by the pressures of work, and friends, and the telephone ringing, and the myriad of responsibilities that leave you running from moment to moment.

Guess what? It would be great to have a solid block of time to devote to God's Word, but we don't have to have it to do it. It only takes thirty minutes to read through a chapter of the Bible. It takes maybe ten minutes to study a Psalm. And sometimes, when we truly have only one minute, we can open our Bibles and just read whichever verse God places in front of us.

Our study of God's Word doesn't have to be perfect in order to affect our hearts. Just like the calorie burning system has shown me that the effects of physical exercise last for hours, taking a few minutes here and there throughout my day to open my Bible and soak in God's lessons has shown me that the effects of spiritual discipline last all day.


"I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." (Psalm 119:11)