It's not for lack of desire. I wouldn't even say that it's from lack of motivation. There's just those periods, those dry spells in my life, that make time spent reading to be fruitless. Nothing of value comes from it. I'm reading the words but nothing is sticking in my head. It's just me going through the motions so I can say that I read from my Bible today.
It occurs to me now that I'm approaching this from the wrong mindset. To say that nothing of value would come out of it would be a lack of understanding. I'm not saying that we should be content with just going through the motions, but we should understand that there is value in obedience. Reading the Bible, prayer, worship, etc. are all ways of expressing and communing to God. It's how we have a relationship with Him. And, like any relationship, we aren't going to be experiencing profound feelings of emotion or understanding each and every time. That's not how it works. If it did, it would make our relationships conditional and lacking in any genuine, meaningful love. God wants us to put in the work and show that He matters to us by obeying Him even when it's inconvenient, boring, or seemingly pointless. He always appreciates us for doing it, even if His love isn't felt in that very moment.
Let me reiterate that we shouldn't be content with going through the motions. We need to learn and change our ways and methods if we expect our relationship to have longevity. But we also need to recognize that hard work and loyalty does not always give instant gratification. If we can do this in our relationship with Christ, then we're certain to have success in other relationships.
-L. Travis Hoffman
3/17/2015
