What's the Single Most Important Thing a Christian Can Do?

What's the Single Most Important Thing a Christian Can Do?

OF ALL THE THINGS A CHRISTIAN SHOULD DO, ONE THING STANDS OUT When I first became a Christian, the gentleman who led me to the Lord gave me one piece of advice that, in retrospect, was worth its weight in gold and changed my life. In the years that followed, I have taken that advice to even higher levels and concluded that it is perhaps the single most important thing a Christian can do. It is so important because living the Christian life is not a hobby, it's a vocation. It's not something you can dabble in and be successful. Half-hearted measures always yield half-hearted results. Instead, it's something you must immerse yourself in. No one becomes a complete Christian by accident. Somewhere along the line, there must be a decision to pay the necessary price to grow. Living the Christian Life is a Big Job Taking the Christian life seriously is a big step. It requires significant commitment. If you were to create a list of the things a Christian needs to do, it would be a formidable list:
  1. Have a daily time of prayer and personal worship with the Lord.
  2. Attend a Bible teaching church regularly
  3. Become a student of the Bible
  4. Be the kind of person whose character is a good advertisement for Christianity
  5. Use your gifts and talents for the Lord and other people
  6. Contribute money to churches and other ministries
  7. Share your faith with others
And, as you get more specific, the list could grow longer and longer. So, not only is it a big job in terms of the commitments we must be willing to make, but on a practical level, taking these steps may be a significant challenge for your daily schedule. You may work long hours, or have a preschooler at home, or be trying to finish an online degree. It can be a tremendous challenge in today’s culture and economy to carve out the time needed to advance as a Christian. But while that is true, it is also true that we can begin to make major progress just by being faithful to a few smaller steps. Where Do I Start? Going back to when I first became a Christian, the gentleman who led me to Christ gave me a New Testament and said, “Read the Gospel of John six times. Then read through the entire New Testament. Don’t worry about what you don’t understand… just focus on what you do. And underline the verses that seem particularly important so you can find them again.” What great advice! When we zero in on the Bible, we are at a starting point that will lead us to every other other responsibility we have. The Bible says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, quipped for every good work.” If a person only did one thing on the list of things a Christian needs to do, becoming a student of Scripture would teach and equip a person to do all the other things on the list. That is not necessarily true of the other things on the list. For example, we might be very faithful at contributing financially to ministries without making personal progress in any other areas. 4 Key Steps There are four simple steps in becoming a dedicated student of the Bible.
  1. Read the Bible. If you read the Bible just 5 minutes a day, in a year, you will have read the Bible over 30 hours! Think of it. Imagine how much your knowledge of the Bible would increase reading it for 30 hours… and at the painless pace of 5 minutes a day! To start, set a timer for 5 minutes, begin with Matthew and read through to Revelation at the rate of 5 minutes a day. Don’t worry about what you don’t understand. Just look for things you do.
  2. Study the Bible. We all need teachers. Don’t try to do this by yourself. Find a church with Sunday school or Bible study groups to help, and attend regularly, not merely when you feel like it. Also, books are great teachers and can make a world of difference.
  3. Memorize the Bible. In your reading and studying, pick one verse or brief passage that speaks deeply to you and memorize it so well that you can say it as fast as an auctioneer. Take as long as you need, but stick with it. When you have that one down, pick another.
  4. Meditate on the Bible. After you have it deeply memorized, recite the memorized verse(s), at least once a day, driving its truth more and more deeply into your soul. You can do this while driving or shaving or standing in line.
These four simple steps are not excessively time consuming. Five minutes a day to read the Bible, a few minutes each day to memorize and meditate on the verses, and going to church each Sunday morning. But they will get you started on a process that will be deeply life changing. You may be reading this and saying, “I already do all those.” Terrific! But even if you're already doing those things, or are ready to get started, I want to encourage you in the process. I have created a video entitled Master the Bible So Well That the Bible Masters You. In it, I go into more detail on the four steps above, and provide a wealth of specific and helpful information to make it even easier to take the steps. The video is available here. If you have not yet downloaded and watched the video, I encourage you to do that as your first, or next, step in becoming a more dedicated student of the Bible.
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