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[Newbie]

If you have time, I’m interested in your perspective on something. My husband and I have been Christians for 14 years. We both have quiet time w/ the Lord almost daily. His Bible is in the trunk of his car and remains there, only pulled out if we are going to a Bible Study. What bothers me is that otherwise, he reads a devotional that has scripture peppered in it. I think devotionals are good, however, they are not a replacement for being in the Bible. I keep thinking of the verses Heb 5:12 and 1 Pet 2:2.

I keep trying to be thankful he is doing what he is and quit trying to be his Holy Spirit. I guess I get discouraged b/c it’s not that he doesn’t see things my way, but God’s way. . .

So I guess the questions is, how do you respond when someone thinks that reading a devotional is as good as reading directly from the Bible?

[jimwalton]

As to your question, some things I've learned through the years:

1. Bible study gets tedious if you don't feel like you're getting anything out of it. When you don't feel like you're learning anything or moving forward, you tend to set it aside because it doesn't seem to be the wisest use of time.

2. Bible study gets tedious when you're not feeling a need right now. If life is going OK, you lose your motivation to dig in. If life is tough, and the Bible doesn't seem to be helping, it gets set aside.

3. Bible study gets tedious when you don't really understand what you're reading. In that case, you need a teacher.

It's actually a lot like a marriage, or learning a musical instrument. At first it's exciting, and then that fades into routine, and then sometimes it's nice, and sometimes it's just a pile of hard work. It takes a lot of work to stay focused and motivated. Ask any sports team. it's tough to "stay up," to stay in the game. Bible study is no different.

As far as your particular question, first, it would help if you had a good teacher who could rekindle some interest in the word for him. Someone who explained the Scriptures well, and not with the same-old-same-old. Too many times teachers in church only tell you things you already know, so after being a Christian for five years, you figure you have it all down, and now it's just repetition. I know you can't generate excellent teachers out of the air by waving your wand, but it would be great if you could get under some good, challenging, stimulating teaching.

Second, good devotionals can be really helpful for staying in the word, and they can teach you a lot also. But good devotionals can be tough to find. Regardless, as you say, they are no substitute for the Word itself. One would hope that after a diet of nothing but snacking for a week or more, a person would be anxious to bite into some real food. Unfortunately the things of the spirit don't work that way anymore than a little bit of exercise each week makes a person just yearn for one of those P90X workouts. It's easy to just be casual, and, well, a little lazy.

How to respond?

1. An honest talk about where you are going spiritually, and how to get there. You know, one of those "life evaluation" kind of conversations? Honest communication: where do we want to go, are we getting there, how do we get there.

2. Another kind of honest conversation: express your concerns for his spiritual growth pattern (not his salvation or anything miscommunication like that). Even saying something like, "It seems like you're spiritually bored right now. Am I seeing that right?"

3. In whatever small group or Sunday School you have at church, start to spice things up by asking better questions. Instead of sitting there an absorbing, as many do, speak up and bring spark to the situation.

4. Join with him in whatever devotional he is reading, meditate on the text yourself during the day, come up with thoughts and observations, and talk to him about them, going back to Scripture itself often. Maybe you can help to spark something in him.