Who has Time for GOD?
Ring… ring… ring. You answer the phone. A deep, slightly raspy voice says, “Happy birthday!” You freeze for a moment, confused. You don’t recognize the voice at all. Then it hits you — it’s your father. You didn’t know him growing up, and even after meeting him as an adult, you rarely called or heard his voice. No wonder you didn’t recognize it.
In the same way, if we want to discern the voice of God in our hearts, we must learn to recognize the Holy Spirit’s voice. And the only way to recognize a voice is to hear it regularly. How do we do that? God has already given us His Word. Reading and understanding Scripture is the most reliable way to train your heart to recognize the Spirit’s conviction and guidance.
But let’s be honest — the Bible can feel long and heavy. Life is busy. If you’re a husband, a wife, or single, chances are you’re working at least one full‑time job. Maybe you’re raising kids — feeding them, clothing them, getting them to school, band practice, swim lessons, soccer games, and still trying to carve out family time. Add in chores, errands, and the needs of friends and relatives, and your schedule fills up fast.
And yes, you might go to church on Sundays. That’s already a commitment. Thirty minutes to get the kids ready, another ten to fifteen to drive and park, fifteen minutes of worship, forty‑five minutes of preaching, and fifteen minutes to get home. You’ve invested a solid two hours into knowing God this week. But let me ask you something. Would you only spend two hours a week building a relationship with your five‑year‑old? Would you only give your spouse two hours of your time? What kind of closeness would that produce?
God has given us 66 books with nearly 1,200 chapters. That’s like God sending you 1,200 text messages from 66 different numbers! How many of those messages have you left unread? Not “left on read” — unread. Imagine your spouse sending you that many messages over the course of your marriage, and you only read half… and responded to maybe ten percent of those. What kind of relationship would that be? God is speaking. He has spoken. The question is whether we’re listening.
How to See Your Screen Time on an iPhone
- Open the Settings app This is the gray gear icon on your home screen.
- Scroll down and tap Screen Time This section tracks how you use your device.
- View your usage dashboard Once inside, you’ll see:
- Daily & weekly screen time
- Most‑used apps
- Pickups (how many times you unlock your phone)
- Notifications received
How to Check Screen Time on Android
- Open the Settings app (The gear icon, usually in your app drawer or notification shade.)
- Scroll down and tap Digital Wellbeing & parental controls This is Android’s built‑in dashboard for tracking device usage.
- Tap the chart or “Dashboard” for deeper details This lets you:
- See hourly usage
- View weekly trends
- Check app‑by‑app breakdown
After you check the time you spend on your phone — and how many hours disappear into each app — take a moment to consider how much time you could intentionally set aside for God. There are countless types of one‑year Bibles available today. Some are digital on your phone, some are printed, some arrange Scripture chronologically, and others give you a portion of both the Old and New Testaments each day. Most one‑year Bibles can be read in 15–25 minutes a day, and if you stay consistent, you’ll finish the entire Bible every year.
As Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is God‑breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” If Scripture is truly God‑breathed, then making time for it isn’t just a discipline — it’s a lifeline.
So what actually happens when someone reads the Bible more often? Interestingly, research shows that reading Scripture one, two, or even three days a week produces very little measurable change in a person’s life. But according to the 2025 scientific study by the American Bible Society, once a person reads the Word of God four days or more per week, everything shifts. That fourth day becomes a tipping point — a threshold where spiritual, emotional, and behavioral transformation begins to take root.
- Behavioral Changes:
- 59% lower odds of viewing pornography.
- 62% lower odds of excessive drinking.
- 31% lower odds of lashing out in anger.
- Emotional & Proactive Faith:
- 30% drop in feelings of loneliness.
- 228% increase in sharing one’s faith with others.
- 407% increase in memorizing Scripture
These are just some of the findings! Researchers also found that regular Bible reading has a stronger positive impact on stress, anxiety, and loneliness than common self-care activities like exercise, meditation, or socializing with friends.[1] The effects stem not from the act of reading, but the change within the heart of the reader! So read the Bible and let God work on your heart.
[1] American Bible Society. State of the Bible: USA 2025. Philadelphia: American Bible Society, 2025. stateofthebible.org.
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