“O GOD, You are my God; early will I seek You” - Psalm 63:1
The Practice: Scripture before phone every morning
Our fourth practice is to read Scripture before looking at our phones in the morning. This allows the first words that shape our day to be from our sacred text rather than our social media feeds, news or email. As Justin Earley says, this practice “replaces the question, ‘What do I need to do today?’ with a better one, ‘Who am I and who am I becoming?’”
We want to re-emphasize that each of these practices are invitational and about “effort not earning” (Dallas Willard). Many of the practices may also seem really difficult to our normal way of life, especially if you’ve never experienced them personally. However, I (Pastor John) want to give you some added encouragement with this practice - it is accessible to anyone. It is such an easy and simple, yet profound choice you can make to start to grow into the tree we have been talking about in Psalm 1. So, if you are put off by the difficulty of some of these practices - please start here. Begin each morning with God’s voice before you allow the world to rush in through your phone for a week and see what happens.
Bible Reading
If you’re new to the Bible, I would suggest reading a Psalm every morning or choosing one chapter from one of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John) for your Bible reading time
Study Resources
This practice is not about study specifically, but here are a couple resources if you’re looking to go deeper in this direction.
Purchase a study Bible
Online Study Bible - NetBible
Bible Project - They have a video for every book of the Bible and resources on their website for further study. A phenomenal free resource.
Books About Reading the Bible
Multiply - Francis Chan
Scripture and the Authority of God - NT Wright
Meeting House Roundtable on Scripture
Videos, Podcasts & More
How to Read the Bible Series - Bible Project
How to Read the Bible - Bible Project
For Children
Big Picture Story Bible - for Kids
The Action Bible - Comic Style Bible
Jesus Storybook Bible - for Kids