Maybe this will help motivate you to get into your Bible …

There are a few New Year resolutions that are widely popular, such as pursuing losing weight and getting fit.

Another one is reading your Bible.

Very few Christians read their Bibles other than “at church” on Sunday, but when the New Year rolls around they dust it off with the intention of at least doing a “daily devotional.” That usually lasts no longer than the pursuit to lose weight and get fit.

If the promise of a New Year isn’t enough to motivate you to take getting into — and staying in — the Bible on a daily basis, maybe there’s another source of motivation that will help you.

When Queen Victoria of England was a child, she didn’t know she was in line for the throne of England. Her instructors, trying to prepare her for the future, were frustrated because they couldn’t motivate her. She just didn’t take her studies seriously.

Finally, her teachers decided to tell her that one day she would become the Queen of England. Upon hearing this, Victoria quietly said, “Then I will be good.”

The realization that she had inherited this high calling gave her a sense of responsibility that profoundly affected her conduct from them on.

The Apostle Paul pleads with us to live up to our calling as well …

“Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God,” Ephesians 4:1.

Paul helps us understand that, as Christians, we have already received a royal appointment to be the personal representatives of King Jesus here on earth, and that we have a very real responsibility to represent Him …

“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!'” 2 Corinthians 5:18-20.

When you understand the significance of the position that God has assigned to you, and the great responsibility of it, maybe that’s enough to motivate you to be in the Bible on a daily basis. To understand how to carry out “this task of reconciling people to him” and to know and understand “this wonderful message of reconciliation” (the Gospel) we are to share as ambassadors requires our daily study of the Word so that God may make His appeal through us.

What further motivation do you need to be in the Bible on a daily basis?

Scotty