Renewed Appetite

This year my devotional time has consisted of heavy doses of the Old Testament. I've read some in the epistles (mostly in Greek!), but purposefully took a break from the Gospels. I wanted to take a break from them for a short time before coming back to them later in the year. During this break I've noticed a yearning in my soul for Jesus. I've loved my time of reading in the Old Testament and the principles and nuggets of God's grace I've found in those books, but I longed for the person of Christ. Jen and I are starting to read through the gospel of Mark together. As I read the 1st chapter recently, I didn't look at it through stale lenses of recalling what he does next and having my mind wander, but excitedly considered what this all must have been like for the Son of God to come to earth? Why on earth He called men to be his apostles (when rocks or clouds would have done the trick just fine)? Impressed by His compassion and His sense of purpose as the Light that would shine in a dark and desperate place. The break was healthy as it reminded me what drew me to Jesus in the first place.

This isn't the first time I've purposefully taken a break from a portion of Scripture, I've done it with the Law or Psalms before, but it is the first time I've done it with the Gospels. Sometimes as Christians we get too routine in reading a chapter in the Old Testament, one in the gospels, one in the epistles, and a psalm everyday or some other "system" that we or others have manufactured. In doing so I've experienced a lack of enthusiasm and excitement for God's Word as it just becomes a habit and not about the discovery of God. If this is where you are, just reading because that's what you do, day in and day out, then I would encourage you to take a "Sabbath" or rest from a section of God's Word. Don't put it aside altogether! I think what you'll find is a longing for the truths from that section of Scripture and an excitement as your return to rediscover those truths and find new truths you've never seen before.