Devotions

I have been a Youth Pastor for 15 years. I went to Bible College for 6 years over a 10 year period. I have been a Christian for 30 years and I have been going to Church for 34 years. During all that time I have not once discovered a fool proof plan on being dedicated to reading the Word of God on a consistent basis. I have been through seasons where I will read my Bible and I will take notes and I may even memorize a verse or two. But I have never stuck it out for more than a few months before I seem to drop it from my schedule. I am embarrassed and maybe even ashamed that I cannot stick to that simple task of doing my devotions. Now I read the Bible a lot for many things I do at Church, weather it is preparing a bible study or a sermon to reading a few verses from a paper I am reading. In fact I probably have read the whole Bible at least once in my 34 years of exisistance. I can quote scripture pretty well and I can even recognize a passage when read in Church. Yet, I don't have a consistent devotion, I don't dedicate a few moments in my day to read for myself to get to know God. Why? What is it that I can't just read, reflect and go on with my day? I can find time to watch my favorite programs on TV, I can find time to surf the internet for useless information or a play a game or two and yet I can't find the time to read my Bible. Again, I am ashamed and embarrassed to even admit this. So what am I going to do? I don't know because this is not the first time I have come to this conclusion. As I started by saying, all my life I have been up and down trying to commit my time to reading my Bible for me, not for a Bible study or a sermon, just to spend time with God and to take away something I can apply to my life. I can't expect youth to read their Bibles if I don't take the time to do it myself. The Bible even says, "A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher." Luke 6:40
So, I sit here this morning wanting to commit to a time to read my Bible and reflect on what God would be teaching me. I thank God for these moments and I pray that I will be motivated enough to do just that.
Now if I could just do the same about losing weight and working out! I think that might be hopeless.