As I begin my journey into achieving new goals, one of them is to separate some time during the day for devotional. I would normally listen to an audio devotional on my way to work, to save time, however, I want to commit to actually spending time studying the Scriptures, without any distractions. Normally, what would happen was that as I listened to the audio devotional I would also think about the work I had to do for that day, and on some occasions, the audio devotional would just turn into background noise for me. Therefore, today I will start separating some time for my devotional, hopefully devoid of any other distractions.

For my daily devotionals, I usually follow In Touch’s Daily Devotions. They are concise, constructive, and relevant. It has taken me some time to find a devotional program that has those three qualities without compromising its integrity. What I have found is that some constructive, Bible-centered devotionals tend to become distant from today’s reality, and seem to be written by people who don’t really live in today’s world, and therefore, it is hard to identify with the messages that they portray. On the other hand, those devotionals that strive to be relevant to today’s world and to find identification with today’s people (particularly millennials) often sacrifice their integrity and insert interpretations that serve to fit today’s standards of morality rather than seeking to portray Biblical standards. So, instead of applying a Biblical interpretation into today’s world, they apply a wordly interpretation into the Biblical message.

I have found that balance that I’ve been seeking for in In Touch’s Daily Devotions. The conciseness of the devotionals means that I can have my study time briefly before starting my day, and I can go back to it at night before bed. However, as short as these devotionals may seem, the message has always been a powerful and relevant one. I suggest you check them out.

So, I’ve talked about devotionals, now I want to talk about the books that I plan to study. I have a relatively large library (large for a millennial) of books, most of which are in the Religion/Theology category, I also have books on foreign languages, engineering, and fantasy. Given that a good part (almost half) of my books on Theology/Religion were purchased to use for a specific class, I may have read through them in a hurry, or with a specific purpose in mind (e.g. to complete a given assignment or study for a test). But now that I’m not in school anymore, I want to try to read these books in a more thorough fashion. Granted, a book on theology or church history is not and will never be a substitute for reading the Scriptures, it does at least keep my brain busy, and studying theology or church history has played a role in my spiritual formation. Now, given that I’m not in school and I don’t have deadlines to meet regarding these books, I have not yet chosen a book to re-read, but I plan on doing so, and to keep myself busy with the blog I’ll write either a summary, review, or essay about my thoughts on the contents of the book.

Well, those are my thoughts for today. Sometime in the future, I’ll start posting my bible studies (or my thoughts on other studies/devotionals).