“The hills are aliveeeee, with the sound of muuuusicccc, ahh ahh ahh ahhhhh....”
You sang that, didn’t you?!
That was the sound I absolutely dreaded every Christmas. See, every Christmas, my family would get together, and for some reason The Sound of Music would always be showing on TV. As a child, I couldn’t think of a worse way to waste three hours of my life.
So every time the film would be put on, I swiftly found something else to go and do in my room.
Anything had to be better than watching that, right?!
Until one year... I gave in.
After much persuasion I decided to watch it, but only so I could prove everyone wrong and insist on how boring it was.
So it starts to play... here comes Julie Andrews running through some hills singing her song...
...and then... I was hooked...
I watched the whole three hours, enjoyed every minute of it and by the end I was a changed person!
I went on iTunes and downloaded the album. I played it in my room, walking to school, in the car. I learned the dances, I got tickets to see the stage show in London. Why hadn’t I watched this sooner?!
I guess my stubbornness comes into play here. I was adamant that it was boring and I would hate it so I refused to watch it.
I tell you this because first impressions of things aren’t always good.
Want to know what else I used to find boring? The Bible. Honestly it’s true. I used to ask myself, how is a big, old, dusty book written 2000 years ago relevant to my life at all?!
In my teens I was a pastors daughter - I walked the walk, and I talked the talk... I knew all the bible stories and sang all the Jesus songs... but did I know God? Nope.
It wasn’t until I was 16... I seen people around absolutely in love with Jesus, and began to see Jesus in a new light. I already knew that I was meant to have a personal relationship with Him, and I knew one way to do that was through reading the bible... but I had already made my mind up about that book. But I knew if I wanted to try this life with Jesus, and try it for real, I had to start reading it.
What I learned was that another name for the bible is “God’s Word,” so if you want God to be speaking to you, the book is literally His words! Of course God can speak in many different ways, but that is the way I’ve found to be most prominent in my life.
But there will be days where maybe you just don’t feel like reading.
Let me try and help.
Firstly, don’t condemn yourself, because that will only fill you with shame and make you less likely to want to spend time with God. God doesn’t condemn you, so don’t condemn yourself.
Secondly, remember you’re not reading to tick something off the “Good Christian” to do list. The reason that you’re reading isn’t to see what you can get from it, but it’s to see more of God through it. When your perspective changes to this, reading becomes a lot more fruitful because you’re moving from being self-focused to God-focused.
And thirdly, stop putting so much pressure on yourself. I 100% believe we should be reading our bibles every day because God wants our relationship with Him to be fresh. But if all you can manage to read one day is one verse then that is okay! If God is calling you to just meditate on a couple of verses then do that!
See, the bible is alive and relevant today. It’s not outdated or out of style, it’s the true and living Word of God.
I know I had to rid myself of all the negative assumptions I had of the bible and start reading it afresh for myself. When I did that, that’s when I noticed my relationship with Jesus take off in new ways.
The more time you spend with someone, the more you get to know them. So why not spend some time with Jesus today. He is longing to spend time with you and can’t wait to hear your voice.
James 4:8: "Come near to God and he will come near to you.”