the elusive quiet time

Quiet time. That thing all "good Christians" do. Something I've been neglecting for about a month now.

I'm amused that wikipedia.com actually has an entry for quiet time. It cited several criticisms for quiet time, including a link to Freedom from Quiet Time Guilt, an article that I only briefly scanned over. In the article, Greg Johnson discusses how the idea of quiet time as a "must do" is a form of legalism, and not backed up by the Bible. Catherine Martin apparently disagrees: you can go to her website at quiettime.org and check out her books on the subject and even buy her Quiet Time Notebook.

So, do I think the concept of a quiet time is a good or a bad thing? Neither really. Though I can relate a lot more to the "Freedom from Quiet Time Guilt" article than I can relate to Catherine's blogpost pondering her quiet time for the upcoming year.

Still, whether or not the quiet time is just a legalistic twentieth century invention, I still feel "off" when I'm not reading in the Bible every day. But I want something a little deeper than a preset time where I say the same prayer and read through x amount of pages of Scripture. I want a deep study time, but I honestly have to admit I lack the discipline. I haven't really studied anything since I graduated from college 4+ years ago, and that's sad considering I graduated with a degree in Christian studies...a field that I feel definitely calls for further study. In that regard, I fail the standard that I hold my husband and almost every other seminary student up to: to be a dedicated student of the Word and to constantly dive deeper in understanding of theology, apologetics, etc. Indeed, I've sneered at the lazy attitude of some of the theology students I've encountered while I've grown slack in just my quiet time, not to mention any deeper study.

I guess God is calling me out on my snarky attitude.



All outside links do not necessarily reflect my own opinions, but are provided for those who are interested in viewing for themselves articles/websites I have made a reference to in this post.