Corporate vs. Individual Bible Study

I have been thinking through this subject for some time and finally sat down to write about it.  Recently my wife, Jen and I were discussing our personal devotional life.  As a person who grew up in Southern Baptist churches I have a background of the personal "quiet time" and its importance to a believers life.  In fact, I struggle with being legalistic about its importance.  How so?  For example, while on vacation at times I have considered having my quiet time of greater importance than spending time with family, at times even my wife.  For me it can be a temptation to live by the checklist.

Jen on the other hand, has mentioned how difficult it can be for her to find time daily to spend time with the Lord on her own.  Between taking care of Hudson, cleaning up after me, straightening up our house and finances, not to mention being an all-time Youth volunteer can take a lot of her time.  She talked about the importance she finds in spending time with other believers studying the word of God.  Monday nights I take Hudson while she meets with some young women in our church in a small group bible study.  You see for her, she finds this time in the Word of  great importance 

So which one is right; individual or corporate?  Its funny that you don't see Abraham, David, or Paul spending time daily in God's Word on an individual basis.  It wasn't possible, in that culture and time frame everything was done within the context of a community.  Individuals didn't have access to the Word of God.  Within Scripture almost all people encounter the Word of God in corporate settings.  In the Old Testament, Moses' address of the first five books was to the nation of Israel, or Nehemiah's reading of the law to the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem.  In the New Testament,  Synagogues and the temple were places that jewish men met to learn and discuss the Word of God.   This idea of the "quiet time" seems to be something strongly tied to the American brand of Christianity with its high emphasis on the individual.  

My conclusion, is that regardless of when and where we encounter the Holy Word of God we should be challenged and leave convicted and with new applications for our own life.  This may take place as we read on our own, or as we gather for a Sunday morning worship service as a community of believers, regardless the importance lies in being a doer of the word, and not merely a hearer...