Thanks Joey (and my smart phone)

If you know anything about me, you may know that I have led a Christian small group before school for the past couple of years.  If you know anything about that, then you probably also know how big of a failure it's been.  Sure we gained a person or two, but nobody gained anything spiritually.  Prepare for that to change next year.  I knew the problem wasn't with the group, it was the leader; me. I was the problem.  God gave me the gift of leadership, but where was I leading this group of people?  It wasn't away from God, but it certainly wasn't closer to Him, either.  This summer, I knew I had to make some changes.  Little did I know how amazing those changes would be.
There was a senior, Joey, who came to the small group some weeks.  He was an amazing speaker and was SO passionate about God.  Joey was talking to us one day and he said that the secret to getting closer to God was to read the Bible.  Yeah, it's God-breathed and the living word. So what? Big deal... right? Wrong. Thanks to technology, I downloaded an app on my phone called Daily Bible.  Basically every morning since April or so, I have been waking up to a verse or two ready for me to read on my phone.  It made me feel good. Yeah, I read the Bible every day... sorta... but I wasn't really reading anything, I wasn't soaking anything in, I wasn't hiding those nuggets of truth in my heart to hold on to.  Once school got out in May, I had a lot of free time on my hands. I was messing around with my phone and with the Daily Bible app and I found a tab called Daily Plan.  I clicked on it.  There was a chapter from 4 different books that you were supposed to read that day. I scrolled down. Man, were there a lot of words.  Was this really worth my time? Did I really want to get closer to God? The answer was yes. 
I sat down and I read. I prayed. I didn't feel any different. I tried it again the next day, and then the next, and then the next. I'd pray that God would open my heart and let me receive His words. I'd read, then I'd thank Him for what He'd given me that day.  As the days passed, I'd settled into somewhat of a routine. Making time to read and pray everyday.  I started to take a closer look at how I felt. How I really felt. I felt full. No longer did I feel the emptiness eating away at me.  No longer did I feel like something was missing.  I felt complete. I pray that I keep this up. This feeling is fascinating. Nothing compares to the joy I've felt since digging into the Bible daily.

My  prayer for today is that I keep reading and praying daily. I pray that I can be an example to those looking up to me and that I can finally lead people towards God without fear, shame, apathy, or laziness blocking the way.

So let us not get tired of doing what is good.  At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. -Galatians 6:9