by Rachel Jones
For a long time, I wanted to be someone who runs. Over the years I’d watched several family members and friends lace up their running shoes, bound out of the house and down the road, and return sometime later looking sweaty but invigorated. I’d like to be that person, I thought. But I’d tried it once. Maybe twice. And running was not something I did.
A couple of summers ago, with a little more time on my hands, I decided to do the “couch to 5k” program. It is what it sounds like—an app-based training program that, over nine weeks, aims to get you from “couch potato” to someone who can comfortably run five kilometres. You start off running for 60 seconds and then walking for 90 seconds, on repeat. You have the voice of a friendly celebrity coming through your headphones, telling you when to run and when to walk and offering you generic but surprisingly effective encouragements. As the weeks progress, you gradually increase the amount of running and decrease the amount of walking, until you’re jogging for 30 minutes solid.
And it... worked.
I found I enjoyed it. It was satisfying to make progress. It wasn’t always easy—there were moments when my chest felt like it was bursting and my legs felt like dead weights. I had to fight the pre-run thought that I could just, well, not go running. But I liked how running made me feel after the fact: and sometimes even during the fact. I am now “a person who runs”: someone who laces up their running shoes, bounds out of the house and down the road, and returns sometime later looking sweaty but invigorated.
Sorry if all that talk of running is immediately off-putting. My point is that I want to encourage anyone who would like to be “a person who reads the Bible” (or “has a quiet time” or “does a daily devotional,” or whatever else you’d like to call it). You know of friends or family members who make a hot drink and withdraw to a quiet room with their Bible in the morning, and emerge, sometime later, looking serene but invigorated. I’d like to be that person, you think. You’ve tried it once or twice or even a whole bunch of times over the years—or perhaps it was something you used to do regularly but now you’re out of the habit. Reading the Bible is not something you do.
But it can be.
And that’s where a simple devotional like The Quiet Time Kickstart is designed to help. As with running, it’s getting going with reading the Bible that’s often the hard part; once you’re in the habit, it will feel much more natural. And as with running, it can be helpful to start small and build up. It begins with just a couple of verses and a single thought—a three-minute devotional that anyone can make time and headspace for. Then it builds up gradually to something a little closer to a “5k quiet time”—a comfortable level of Bible fitness that is going to nourish your spiritual health and wellbeing. Along the way you’ll pick up some simple Bible-reading skills that will help you make sure you’re listening carefully to what God has to say.
There’s something important to say upfront, though: there isn’t one standard “quiet time” that everyone needs to aim for. There’s no single “right way” to read the Bible—and certainly no “ideal quiet time” length or style. In fact, the whole idea of doing a solo daily quiet time is a 100% non-compulsory part of the Christian life. It’s a good idea—but nowhere does God command it of you. It’s not about checking boxes or getting a streak.
This is a key difference between reading the Bible and running: reading the Bible isn’t a “thing” you do; it’s a conversation with the living God who loves you. The Creator God, who knit you together and saved you so you can live with Him forever, wants to speak to you—each and every day. Having a quiet time is about coming into His presence, basking in who He is, remembering how He feels about you, listening to what He has to say to you, and telling Him what’s on your mind.
That said, there will be days when you’re feeling it and days when you’re not. There’ll be days when, spiritually speaking, your legs feel good and the sun shines and you smash your personal best—and days when you feel like you’re plodding round the park in the rain. That’s okay. The latter will feel less easy but will be no less good for you. You can trust that reading God’s Word and praying to Him nourishes and sustains your soul, even if you don’t get a “wow” feeling every day. And in God’s kindness, there will be many days when He blows you away.
So lace up those shoes (or put on those slippers). Turn on the kettle. Open the Bible. And let’s get started.
Rachel Jones is the author of A Brief Theology of Periods (Yes, Really), Is This It? and several books in the award-winning Five Things to Pray series, and serves as Vice President (Editorial) at The Good Book Company. She helps teach kids at her church, King's Church Chessington, in Surrey, UK. Her new daily devotional, The Quiet Time Kickstart, will kickstart a daily Bible-reading routine and give you the skills and confidence to understand and enjoy God’s Word for yourself.
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