Have you ever noticed there are specific places for you to do almost everything in your home? Typically we have a place where we eat meals with the family and a place we sit and pay the bills. We have a place we sleep, a place where we fold clothes (we still do that, right?), a place where our kids play? We even have a place where we sit to be entertained. But have you set aside a place for Bible study?
We have been working our way through a series together designed to encourage you to create your own lifelong habit of daily devoted time in God’s Word. First we established you DO have time for Bible study. Then we talked about the “Yes” and the “No” of Bible study. Today, I am going to talk about where you will do Bible study.
Pick a Place
The first part of picking a place for Bible study is designating it: “My Bible Study Spot.” It is not a difficult process, just pick any place. The only requirement to consider for your selection is reliability. Is the spot you are considering a place that is always there, and not seasonal?
For a little inspiration for choosing the perfect place, let’s look at what Daniel did to spend time with the LORD.
Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying, and giving thanks before His God, as he had been doing previously. ~Daniel 6:10
Sounds like Daniel had a pretty nice set-up for spending time with God. He had a designated place in his house – on his roof chamber – it had fresh air and pointed in the direction of Jerusalem. Did you notice he had a habit of praying three times a day there? Daniel had a habit of devotion to God.
A Rough Season
There’s more to the story in this chapter of Daniel, of course. The habit Daniel had established was the thing his enemies chose to attack. Daniel had been distinguishing himself among the commissioners and satraps because he possessed an extraordinary spirit (Daniel 6:3). And the king had some big plans for him – to appoint him over the entire kingdom!
This did not make the other commissioners and satraps happy. They wanted to figure out how to impugn him before the king. But Daniel was a man of extraordinary spirit – it wasn’t easy to drag him down.
Then they remembered: he had the habit of seeking his God every day, three times a day, in a certain spot in his home. He was dependably devoted to God.
And they had him.
They conspired together to pass a law for 30 days that said no man could make petition to any man or god besides the king.
Just 30 days.
Daniel could have laid aside his daily devotions for 30 days, don’t you think? He could have complied with the law to stay out of trouble. He could have “gone underground,” moved his devotional spot to somewhere more private. But that is not what the Word of God tells us about Daniel. It tells us, “when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house…and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God.”
I am not here to tell you the spot you choose makes a difference to how often you do Bible study. But the testimony of Daniel is he had established a lifelong habit, unshakable by the seasons of his life. An important part of the habit he had created was the place.
A Reliable Place
He had a place that was reliable and he had a habit that was reliable. So reliable even his enemies knew they could count on him to continue in the habit. So they could trap him and drag him down.
Picking a place for doing devotions is SO important! Creating a little spot in of refuge in your home is key to creating the habit of Bible study. Your heart will be led to go there when you need some time with the Lord. When you see it during the other parts of your day, you will be reminded of what God has taught you there. As you pass by it, you will meditate for a brief moment on what the Holy Spirit is teaching you today. And when the difficult seasons of life hit (and they will), you will have already established the place you can go to get wisdom from your Father in heaven.
Note: Don’t worry about Daniel. God used this difficulty in Daniel’s life to bring glory and honor to Himself – by having the king issue another decree. Check it out by reading the rest of Daniel 6.
Prep your Place for Bible Study
The second part of picking a place for Bible study is designing it. Deciding what lives in this spot is super important. You will obviously want to make sure there is the most important item you could have in this spot: your Bible. But there may be some other things that help to make it your own private and special place to sit at the feet of Jesus.
Add in a favorite comfy chair, if you like. You may also want to have a table to set your favorite beverage on. A key part of my time with the Lord is coffee! A bin or basket to put a few Bible study supplies into is also a good idea. Or you may want to have an entire shelf of books to help you in your time with the Lord. Choosing what will be in this place is completely up to you – and those things will make it yours.
Different Seasons
Your Bible study spot is so important to have in every season of your life, but it may change as seasons change. I have two “spots” in my home and I move between them depending on the season of my life. I typically have a place upstairs where I have a comfy chair and I am surrounded by my library of books. Just thinking of this spot makes me smile! I also have a spot downstairs in our dining room I take over at other times. All my Bible study resources wind up down there and I sit in the early morning with my coffee and my Lord. I can’t even tell you why it switches back and forth; I just go with it.
It is the habit of Bible study that is important, even more than the place. I should be able to sit anywhere and read and study the Word. But if I want to incorporate diligent devotions into my daily life, it helps to have a place set aside for this purpose. The place should be an encouragement to keep up the habit, not a prerequisite. The size of your home or the size of your Bible study spot should not be an obstacle to creating this space – remember all you really need in this spot is a Bible – everything else is just making it your own.
Designating a Place for Bible study
As you have read this, have you started thinking of a place in your home that would work for Bible study? Have you come up with obstacles in the way to prevent it from being your Bible study spot? I assure you, the obstacles are movable. You really only need a couple of things in your devotion spot: a Bible and a teachable and willing heart. The rest will begin to fall into place as you create the daily habit of seeking the Lord.
I pray as you commit yourself to the lifelong habit of devoted Bible study, you will become like Daniel – reliably devoted to a reliable God. I pray the place in your home you choose as your Bible study spot will become a place of reliable refuge in every season of life.
This post was shared at: Titus 2 Tuesdays
