Having a daily quiet time is one of the easiest, yet most difficult tasks, for the Christian. If you are a mom of little children, it is even more of a challenge.
We all know we need to read the Bible, and as Christians we should have a desire to read the Bible. Yet, we often reach the end of another twenty-four-hour period only to discover we didn’t fit quiet time into our schedules.
I have found that reading my Bible first thing in the morning is the best choice for me personally. I am not perfect at this, and it is something I need the Lord’s enabling hand to do each day. I fail miserably many times and am thankful for the Lord’s mercy.
If I don’t read my Bible first thing in the morning, the day moves on, and I find there is usually never another good time to read God’s Word and pray. Meals, cleaning, homeschooling, and daily life just get in the way! Even if I have good intentions to read the Bible at another time of day, it just doesn’t usually happen.
The month of December is super busy for everyone. We have events to attend, gifts to buy, meals to cook, and family to visit. Somewhere in the mix of all that, we work, go to school, and do all the other life tasks!
With today marking the 1st of December, I decided to set a quiet time goal for myself personally, and I want to share it with you. Here are three easy quiet time ideas for your daily devotions during the month of December!
1. Read the book of Luke from the Bible.
There are twenty-four chapters in the book of Luke. If you read a chapter every day, this will take you right up to Christmas Eve for your Bible reading. If you miss a day or two, you should still be able to finish up by the end of the month.
The wonderful thing about reading the Bible is that we aren’t being timed, and it’s not a race to see how fast we can finish. If you get behind, the Bible is going to be there tomorrow to try again. God’s mercy is amazing!
I love using a highlighter when I read the Bible. I don’t always highlight entire verses, but sometimes I highlight just a portion of a verse that jumps out at me. That’s Holy Spirit illumination by the way.
My Granddaddy passed away this year, and my mother had his Bible at the hospital so she could read to him from it. One day while I was at the hospital sitting with him, I flipped through the pages of his Bible.
Every page had highlighter markings of things he deemed important. It was wildly marked with all kinds of colors, but as I looked at the pages, God’s Words literally jumped off the pages to me.
Even though I have always enjoyed marking special verses in my Bible, that day I decided to be much more intentional about marking my Bible and really making my Bible come alive.
One helpful idea for Bible study is to keep reading until God speaks to your heart. Then, carry that treasure with you throughout the day.
2. Read from your favorite devotional book.
My absolute favorite devotional book is New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp. This is a yearly devotional that will leave you encouraged, convicted, and challenged every day you read it.
Come, Let Us Adore Him: A Daily Advent Devotional is a devotional book specifically for the month of December. It is another book you want on your shelf to read every December.
3. Write Scripture.
Sometimes I get bogged down with needing a fancy notebook and the perfect pen, but writing Scripture can be as simple as using a sheet of printer paper! You do still need a great pen! Writing Scripture causes us to think more deeply about what the passage says.
If you need ideas for writing Scripture, here are a few…
-Write from the books of Psalms and Proverbs.
-Find a Scripture writing list on the Internet. These lists are usually themed for a particular month and suggest Scripture passages to write for each day of the month.
-Write a verse or two from your daily devotions that spoke to your heart.
Bonus for Daily Devotions in December:
Prayer is also important, so don’t forget to add that to your quiet time, and memorizing Scripture is an added bonus! Luke Chapter 2 is a wonderful passage for family memorization in December.
Please let me know if you decide to join me for this December challenge! Chapter 1 of Luke has 80 verses, so you better get busy! It’s an easy-to-understand passage, so it won’t take that long!
If you are reading this post later in December, or any other time of year, it’s never too late to begin the good habit of having a daily quiet time and reading God’s Word.
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