I have said it and thought it many times over my life and you probably have, too: I should read the Bible more; I should spend more time in prayer.
There’s that old colloquial phrase that tends to sum up our failings to do the things we have good intentions of doing, but never do—woulda, shoulda, coulda. There are a lot of shoulds and oughts in most of our lives, particularly when it comes to spiritual things.
We tend to think of Bible reading, study, and prayer as good things to do, as goals perhaps of better living. We don’t see them as necessities, but as better things toward which to strive. We ought to do them; we should do them, but we don’t have to do them to get by.
Yet, Jesus compares Himself to bread—a necessary food in the 1st Century, and to water (John 4), necessary to all of life. No one can physically survive without food and water. There are no “I should eat” or “I ought to drink” statements when talking about sustaining our physical lives. Rather, we know we must eat and drink to survive and thrive.
What we so often fail to realize is there is no woulda, shoulda, coulda when it comes to the role of a relationship with Jesus in our spiritual lives. He absolutely is necessary and essential. Like eating and drinking sustains us physically, so does spending time with Jesus through His Word and in prayer sustain us spiritually. He is our necessary Bread and our essential Water. Without His nourishment and replenishment, we cannot thrive or even survive.
Today, recognize that thinking you should spend time with Jesus is a misunderstanding of the spiritual reality. Instead, know you MUST spend time with Him. He is the Source of your spiritual sustenance; thus, you need to devote time reading the Word and praying. For at the end of your life, you don’t want to look back thinking: woulda, shoulda, coulda. By then, it will be too late.
© Jim Musser 2015
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