Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.

Psalms 119:1, KJV

I'll keep this one short because, like me, you are busy.

If you really want to transform your life in the new year, read the Word! 

"But I am too busy", you will protest, and quite so. God has designed this world with a multitude of things that will keep us busy, from the necessity of providing a living for our daily needs, to the opportunities for unnecessary distractions, it is all there. If you choose, you can just immerse yourself in your busy schedule and be content that you would read the Bible if you had time, but you don't, so that is the end of the discussion.

Today, I want to take away that excuse by suggesting for your impossibly busy life a solution. It will begin with a sacrifice that costs you little, but it will end with a desire to offer a sacrifice of time that you will willingly give. And it begins with the verse above.

The author of the 119th Psalm is anonymous. While it's safe to assume that it might be King David since he is the attributed author of about half of the Book of Psalms, it really doesn't matter. It is sufficient to understand that this Psalm was written by someone who was absolutely in love with God and wanted to find out everything he could about God's Word. So the 119th Psalm is twenty-two sections of eight verses each, and each section is a praise of God's testimony, commands and advice.

Do you think that you could benefit from such information? Then try this: Begin each day of your next three weeks and one day by reading a single eight verse section. It will literally take you more time to find your Bible each day than it will be to read, but the dividends you will gain from your reading will be immeasurable. You will be reading a set of passages by an inspired writer who has fully bought in to the fact that God's Word is an absolute privilege and necessity for his life. I believe at the end of these twenty-two days, after starting off the first minute of your day by gaining a life-changing message that you can carry around in your heart and mind for the rest of your day, that you will be transformed.

And if you actually do carry this message on your heart and in your thoughts each day, and you are aware enough to see how your life is being changed for the better, you will want more.

And you will become a daily Bible reader because you realize that this Book truly does have the words of life.

Or... you could play on your phone or computer because, after all, you are too busy to read the life-changing message that the One who gave you life wants you to have. Which, I wonder, will you choose?

I open my mouth and pant, longing for Your commandments.

Psalms 119:131, ESV