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[0:00] And you know, I'll just make a little plug for Bible memorization. You know, if you don't do it, I can't find anything wrong with it. Huh? So, you know, that's something to think about. Can't find anything wrong with it. I can find a whole lot right with it. So if you're not, if you don't memorize the scripture, you know, the Bible does say the Holy Spirit will bring to your remembrance.

[0:22] And the Holy Spirit is not going to be able to bring to your remembrance something that's not there. It's not in the remembrance, right? Right. So, you know, it'd be good. Just get in the habit of doing it. If you don't do it, you know, try to get in the habit of doing it.

[0:34] Find a way to, you know, force yourself to do it. Some of you used to do it. Maybe some of you never got into it, but whatever, you know, you just, it's a good thing to do.

[0:46] And what I do is I read my Bible. And as I'm reading my Bible, when something just, you know, when something sticks out in a, wherever, I write it down.

[0:57] I write it down on my, I write it down on my, on my Wednesdays. And then at the end of the month, I have a planner. That's what I use every month. And then I, then I write whatever, if I go, if I get four and I'm still, there's, you know, I'm still getting, you know, these verses.

[1:13] I write them all down at the end of the month. And then when I get the next, my next, I pull out my next planner out of a box. I go to the Wednesdays. I take those. I put them on there. I just keep it running like that.

[1:23] You know, some people memorize chapters. Some people memorize a lot more than that, but, you know, do something. If you find yourself, you're not memorizing at all. I would encourage you to find a reason to.

[1:40] Pick a verse, memorize it, and then do it again. And then find you another one, do it again. And that's not what the message is about tonight, but it kind of close. It's kind of, it's kind of close.

[1:52] It's in the same area, same arena. Turning your Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 4. I'm looking at this hideous phone right now because, you know, it's, I got, I was working and they painted my phone.

[2:05] The painters came by and they just, they didn't, they didn't care anything about my phone. They just painted right over my phone. And then the guys, the same guys were coming down. These guys work for me. And they come down and one guy tells me to get out of the way.

[2:17] He's going to paint over me. And I'm like, I'm your boss. Okay. Yeah. So, all right. That's okay. They're getting it done. And I guess that's good. I got out of the way.

[2:32] I didn't get painted on, but my phone did. Okay. 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy. I don't know what you think about 1 Timothy. I like it. You know, I like all them books in that area. I actually like the Bible, but Timothy, those books, 1 and 2 Timothy, I really like those.

[2:47] I just, man, if I was wanting to do some pleasure reading in my Bible, I would definitely probably go into the area of Galatians to, into the Timothy area.

[2:58] Philemon. Right in there is where I would spend some time. If I was just, you know, just, man, I just feel like enjoying my Bible. That's where I would go. For some, you know, I get it. You know, it's a Psalms. And for some, it's Proverbs. And that's all good.

[3:10] I mean, the Bible is great. So, um, wherever you, wherever you want to camp, but you ought to do something. 1 Timothy chapter 4. And I just want to look at this verse here and we'll look at a couple others probably. But 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 13, it says, till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

[3:28] He says, till I come, give attendance to reading. I don't know what all they were reading back there in those days, but there's stuff, stuff around. You know, I know there's, uh, I think there was some of the, uh, philosophers and I never really looked at who, what kind of writings were around.

[3:43] But I know this, one thing you definitely need to, uh, give attendance to is a reading of the word of God. Right. We, I think we could all agree to that, that, uh, when he, when, when Paul's encouraging Timothy to give attendance to reading, he's definitely, uh, talking about the word of God.

[4:01] Now attendance here, this word, you know, I like to look at Bible definitions when I'm, when I'm looking at a definition, but it doesn't always work like that. This, this word, I find it four times in the Bible in my app.

[4:13] And I used to say it's, it's mentioned for, you know, five times in the Bible or mentioned two times in the Bible, but I just thought to myself, you know, I'm really just trusting an app to tell me, you know, I like my concordance.

[4:23] I got to thinking about, uh, what people did without one. You talk about knowing your Bible. Whew. I'm really glad to have one. But so my, my app tells me that there's four times that the word attendance shows up in the Bible.

[4:39] And, uh, you know, I'm not an English guy. Uh, I, I kind of hate English. I hated it in school. I still don't like it. Um, teach his own. All right. Uh, but, uh, but, but so three times in the Bible, it looks like it's a noun, whatever that is.

[4:55] Okay. I know what it is, but, uh, one time, one time it's, it's, it's a verb. Okay. If that means anything to anybody, there you go. Uh, I just tried to, I tried to figure out a way to explain it, to, to explain the fact that three times it's one way.

[5:11] And one time it's another way. Three times it's a guy. It's a guy who's there. You're like, you're sitting right there right now. You know, if you weren't there, you wouldn't be in attendance. Right? So you're there.

[5:22] And, um, so this attendance though is different. Give attendance to reading. You need to give attendance to reading. You have to give it.

[5:33] Okay. So, so this says give attendance to reading till I come give attendance to reading. Um, so I, I just wanted to, uh, look at a few things that have to do with giving attendance to reading.

[5:45] Now I'm talking about the word of God. Um, you know, you can read a lot of different things and I read a lot of different things. Uh, I'm a reader now. I hated reading when I was younger, but I became a reader.

[5:56] And, um, so I like, I like reading, but I like to read things that have to do with God. Uh, I'm not into fiction, not in any of that stuff.

[6:08] I like to read stuff that has to do with the Lord. So, uh, attendance, the definition. So the, the definition says to be present, to listen or give care or attention to.

[6:21] So, um, attendance is to be present. Listen, I, I'm not talking about the present of you sitting there. I'm talking about being present when you're reading.

[6:32] Obviously you have to be there when you're reading, but are you really there? That's what he says. He says, give attendance to reading. I just want to look at a few things about giving attendance to reading.

[6:47] I would guess that, uh, this right here being, you know, being up here 40 years saved. You know, I got this message. I want to preach someday on things I've learned in 40 years.

[6:57] And it's, you know, you just hopefully, hopefully by some point in your life, you've learned some things. You know, you've been saved five years. You've been saved 10 years, maybe even. And, and you're, you're still wondering what's really going on.

[7:10] You know, I hear this and somebody tells me this, but is it, is that really the way it is? Um, you know, uh, I'm trying to think of examples and I don't want to mess you up. So I'm just going to kind of leave those out.

[7:21] Let you, let you think about what they might be. But it's, but you know, you go through your Christian life and I probably went through 30 years thinking different things that, you know, and finally one day I just kind of stopped and go, I don't know.

[7:33] Maybe that's not, maybe, maybe the way everybody's doing it. This isn't, maybe, you know, because look, when you're reading something like, especially in church history, say, um, probably anything, anything, but church, let's say church history.

[7:47] You're basically, when they're telling you something, they're telling you something that somebody else said. That somebody else said. That somebody else said.

[8:00] That somebody else said. Somewhere up there. Somebody said it or wrote it. And everybody else went. Oh, this is it.

[8:12] Oh, this is it. Oh, this is. And that's how we today. We're still doing it. You may have heard some names. Schofield. I mean, I already named Schofield.

[8:23] Okay. Schofield Bible, right? Everybody should be kind of familiar with that. But the Schofield Bible and Schofield has notes. Okay. Schofield said some things.

[8:34] And he didn't necessarily get it from somebody else. He documented his notes. You know, and several people have done that. Dr. Ruckman's done that. But, you know, so, so the point is when he did that, somebody taught it.

[8:48] And they taught it. And say, say me, five years saved. I'm talking to a guy. And he's teaching me something. And he's telling me what Schofield said. But I think he said it.

[8:59] I don't know any better. Well, I'm sorry. But Schofield messed up a couple things. I'm sorry. So, down the road, I realized. Wow.

[9:10] I should have really paid more attendance to my reading. And not worrying about what somebody else said. You get what I'm saying? So, tonight, I just want to encourage you, you know, give attendance to reading.

[9:22] It's probably one of the most important things for a Christian to do. Now, I've said that many times. And there's a lot of importance. The reason this is probably very important is because it has to do with you reading the Word of God.

[9:40] That, I think we would all agree, is very important. Don't go back over there again. Don't do this again. I don't know what God puts it on the list. But I would guess he would put it pretty high.

[9:55] You know, so reading is mentioned in the Bible a lot of times. Not as many as, you know, you would think something that important. But look at Deuteronomy. Just want to kind of make a point here about reading your Bible.

[10:06] Deuteronomy chapter 31. Look at a couple of verses here. Deuteronomy 31. And I want to start in verse 11. I like the book of Deuteronomy.

[10:18] You know, I know it's a stigma. When people say about reading your Bible through, oh man. Numbers, Leviticus, Deuteronomy.

[10:31] Really, it's pretty good. It's actually pretty good. So, go ahead and go in there. Deuteronomy 31. And I'm not going to say about you need to read all your Bible.

[10:43] That's probably another different message. But it would be really well to do that. Hopefully, you're reading your Bible. Deuteronomy 31. Start in verse 11. It says, When all Israel has come to appear before the Lord thy God.

[10:56] In the place which he shall choose. Thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together. Men and women and children. And thy stranger that is within thy gates.

[11:09] That they may hear. And that they may learn. And fear the Lord your God. And observe to do all the words of this law. Deuteronomy chapter 17. Go back a little bit.

[11:21] Deuteronomy chapter 17. So, they're reading this book of the law to everybody. Yeah.

[11:32] I don't imagine back then everybody has a copy. Right? It'd be kind of hard. Nope. It'd be really hard. Deuteronomy chapter 17.

[11:43] And look at verse 18 and 19. 18 and 19. It says, And it shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom.

[11:55] Right? We're talking about a king. That he shall write him a copy of this law in a book. Out of that which is before the priest of Levites. And it shall be with him. And it shall read therein all the days of his life.

[12:08] That he may learn to fear the Lord his God. To keep all the words of this law and these statutes to do them. So, everybody should be reading it.

[12:21] This guy, the king. He's actually going to write it. But he's going to read it too. But he's going to write it. And, you know, they say that you write something.

[12:33] It helps you to memorize it more. It helps you to remember more. Right? Everybody understands that. You probably heard that on it. I'm not telling you anything new. Somebody said it. And I read it. Okay. So, it's understood.

[12:48] And then, reading it helps it. If I just kind of told it to you, it probably wouldn't. But if you read it yourself, it also helps you to retain it more. But two things about this to note.

[13:00] When they're reading it. What is the purpose? So, we're talking about giving attendance to reading. Okay. We're talking about giving attendance to reading. Not just merely reading. So, these guys read it.

[13:12] And the reason they did. Was that they would learn to fear the Lord. And they would do it. Okay.

[13:23] So, those are the two things that are real specific in those verses. About why they're reading it. And why they're. Why he's writing it. So that he can observe to do it.

[13:37] And he can fear the Lord is God. Now, you know. I'm not going to talk much about that. Hopefully, you understand some of the fear of God. I remember reading Dr. Uckman one time. Reading something there.

[13:48] And he said, the fear of God is to be scared out of your wits. That's right. That's good. I said, you know what? Just fear.

[13:58] It's okay. Had Adam and Eve feared the right way. They wouldn't have had to fear the wrong way. When he was walking in the cool of the day to talk to Adam.

[14:11] Right? Makes sense? If they would have had the proper fear of God. I get it. Before the fall. You know. Before the fall, you had lust. Hmm. That's weird.

[14:22] You ever think about that one? Well, the point is. Before the fall. Had they feared God the right way. You think about your children. You know. The children. They. When they fear their parents.

[14:33] In the right way. They're going to want to. They're not going to want to disappoint them. They're not going to want to do them wrong. It's that fear. And you know what? I'm sorry.

[14:43] But it's good. It's good. It's good. It's good to fear God in the proper way. You know. So they. They didn't. Adam and Eve. God's children. Didn't fear God in the proper way.

[14:55] And. They ended up being fearful in the wrong way. Right. After. After the fall. And. You know. I got to thinking. A verse came to my mind about.

[15:07] About another fellowship verse. In Revelation. In the last church. Where God wants us up. He knocks on your door. Right. He wants to come in. But if you're not fearing him. In the right way. And you're fearing him. In the wrong way.

[15:17] You don't want him in there. Right. The last thing you want. Is him. Him coming over for supper. Right. Hopefully it's not that way. And it shouldn't be that way. So. If your fear is wrong.

[15:29] Fix it. Amen. So. There are those. There are those. And you're going to fit into one of these categories right here. But you know. There are those that like to read. You know.

[15:40] Pastor Dave. He. He liked to read. He was a reader. He's the reason. I'm a reader. I hated reading. So. There's those that like to read. Dr. Ruckman with a reader.

[15:50] Right. Dr. Ruckman said. He read a book. A book a day. Since he was 10 years old. That's a lot of reading. You know. He just. Any place he was. He would just pick up the book. And read it.

[16:01] And you know. He could read a lot faster than we could. So. He's getting through it pretty quick. But. So. There are those that like to read. There are those that don't like to read. That was me. I didn't want to read anything. I mean.

[16:12] And I told. I told the story before. The way I got through school was. Whatever the question was. I just looked for that word. I just skim through the book.

[16:23] And looked for the word. Bing. Christopher Columbus discovered America. Whenever he did. I just looked for two capital C's. That's what I did. Flip a page. It's got to be in here somewhere. They told me it was.

[16:35] That's how. That's how I got through school. Don't do that. Okay. And there are those that are indifferent. Indifferent.

[16:46] About. About reading. They don't. They don't dislike it. And they don't like it. They. You know. If I got to read something. I read it. But it really doesn't matter to them. One way or the other. There are those that like to read certain things.

[16:59] Right. Somebody might say. I'm a reader. I'm a reader. I like to read fiction. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for you. You know. Or whatever it is. I like to read magazines.

[17:10] On popular mechanics. I don't know what it is. But some people like to read. They like to read novels. Right. Have I hit anybody yet? Okay. What other ones? Tell me. Somebody say it.

[17:21] You got it on your mind. What are you reading? Huh? Whatever. Okay. So you like to read different things. They just don't like to read the Bible. Right. That makes sense.

[17:32] That's a spiritual issue. Right. We're flesh. We don't necessarily want to read it. You know. And there's a lot of other things involved in that. And we'll get into some of it. We talk about attendance.

[17:42] Giving attendance to reading. The Word of God needs to be one of those like to reads. You know. If you like to read. And you like to read novels. Or fiction. Or cookbooks.

[17:53] Or whatever. Whatever. The Bible needs to become one of those. Make that. Make the Bible one of those like to reads. Okay. I would recommend you add.

[18:05] Here it is again. I would recommend you add missionary biographies. And biographies of great people. If you're not reading those. You know. Hebrews 12.

[18:16] 1. Right. It says. Seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. I get it. The context is Hebrews 11. We got all these guys here. And it does say in Hebrews 11 that. You know.

[18:26] A time would tell. We could. We could mention these guys. And it mentioned other names. Right. There's a lot more. Cloud of witnesses. Than just those in Hebrews 11.

[18:37] Understand that. You can really. Look at a lot of cloud of witnesses. So. I would recommend that. You like to read your Bible. You ought to start reading some biographies. And.

[18:51] And. And. And things about. Books about great man. And great women. Right. You know. I'm not talking about just men. There's a lot of great women out there. Missionaries.

[19:04] And just. Just. Good stuff. Okay. So. Read. Be a reader. If you're not a reader. Become a reader. You know. You say. I just like to watch TV. Sorry. You know.

[19:14] I get it. I do too. It's my thing. I mean. I like to just sit back and relax. And watch. Watch. Somebody cooking in the kitchen. Or something. I don't know. Be a reader.

[19:29] You know. You probably heard before. Readers will be leaders. Right. That's a worldly phrase. And. It's. It's probably somewhat true. I wouldn't recommend you read. You know. Nobel Peace Prize winner.

[19:42] That's probably not where you need to give your attendance to reading. Reading records it. In the annals of your mind and heart. Okay. Reading stuff.

[19:53] Records it in there. You may not realize it. But. It's. Going in that computer of yours. So. Get it in there. Give attendance.

[20:05] To reading. And that. Giving attendance to the word of God. Are you an attendant? Are you an attendant? Attendant to the word of God? You know. An attendant. Right.

[20:16] You expect an attendant. To. Like say. Well. I don't know what you thought. But the first thing I think about. With an attendant. Is the guy who's getting my car. Or. The attendant at the place I'm parking at.

[20:27] I got to go pay the. But he's there. And he's taking care of the parking lot. Okay. Are you an attendant? To the word of God? Or is this just something you bring to church?

[20:40] Don't do that. That's not the. That's not the right thing. Right. We should be an attendant. To the word of God. How much time are you spending. In the word of God? Are you even reading the word of God? You know.

[20:51] I. It just. It kind of. It seems obvious to me. That. Everybody in the church would read the Bible. You get through. You get to talking to some people. And it's like. Oh no.

[21:02] I don't read it when I come to church. Whoa. That's not good. Read. You need to find the time. To read your Bible. You need to make the time. To read your Bible.

[21:13] I'm not going to ask. To a show of hands. Of who gets up in the morning. To read your Bible. Before you leave for the day. Maybe you're one that says. Oh I just stay up late. I'm not going to ask for hands.

[21:25] Maybe I just stay up late at night. You're probably not doing it in the day. Anywhere. So. You got the morning. And you got the night. I don't know about you. But for me. The night just goes man. I look at the clock.

[21:35] And I'm like. Man. I got to start running to bed. You know why? Because I got to get up. Early. And read. And if I don't get to bed.

[21:47] Right now. I'm not going to get up and read. That's. That's. That's the whole point of me going. Me racing to bed at night. I don't know what you do. But you better be finding some time.

[21:59] To give attendance. To reading. If you don't do it. Start doing it. Okay. That's what preaching is.

[22:11] Preaching is. You. You. You get it. And you go. Okay. I got to fix that. Or you go. Great. I'm doing it. Or you go. I need to start there. And if you're not one. That gives attendance.

[22:22] To reading. Start today. Those are baby steps. Those are baby steps. You know.

[22:33] When you're talking about. Christian life. And Christian growth. Those are baby steps. You're not going without that. You just not. And I don't know. If it first comes to your mind. But the Bible says. That man.

[22:43] Shall not live by bread alone. But by every word. That proceeded. That of the mouth of God. So you ain't growing. Without that. I mean. That's the whole part of the deal.

[22:54] Right. Nobody grows. Without eating. Right. Somebody really. Some people really grow. When they eat. And. So you can really grow more.

[23:05] When you eat. Right. So eat. Eat. The Bible. How is your attendance. So let's look at the definition. Real quick. The definition.

[23:17] To be present. To listen. Give care. Or attention to. So the first thing. About the definition. Is it says. To be present. Are you present.

[23:27] When you're reading your Bible. How many of you have. Don't raise your hand. So. How many have a schedule. How many have a schedule.

[23:38] Where you read your Bible. Or once in a year. Or once every six months. Once every three months. You know. They make these things. Where you can. You know. Check your boxes off. And. And you get through your Bible.

[23:49] Once a year. Twice a year. Three times a year. A hundred times a year. Whatever it is. You got this schedule. You do. I'm not against the schedules. You know. For a lot of people. They're not going to read it.

[24:00] Without a schedule. I've been there. I'm 40 years in. Maybe. I don't even know where I'm at. I'm 40. At least 40 years in. And. I've done it. I know. And.

[24:10] I don't do that now. But. I'm not saying. Don't do that. What I'm saying is. If you can't give attendance. And you can't be present. When you're reading.

[24:21] Doing your check box. And going. I've got five minutes. And I've got to cram three chapters in. You need to be doing something different. You need to be doing something different. With a saying.

[24:32] What is it? I'd rather. Some preacher said it. I'd rather. Bathe in a verse than. Something. Nobody knows. Okay. I got that part. I'd rather bathe than a verse.

[24:43] Do you remember? Yeah. Then take a shower in a shower. I don't know what it was. Something like that. Um. But the point was is. But the point was is. I. I may just spend the time in one verse.

[24:54] And I've done that many times. And I'm not saying. Just read one verse a day. Yes. You know. Don't try that. If you. If you're just going. Man. Preacher says. Just read one verse a day. There you go. I got that done. That's probably not what I'm talking about.

[25:05] Um. You need to give attendance. You need to give attendance to reading. You need to do it. Right. As he says. Till I come. Give it. Timothy. You. Give attendance to reading.

[25:16] You have to do it. It's not going to happen by itself. Um. You're giving attendance to something. You're giving attendance to something. Here's what I'm talking about. Um. You ever find yourself mind wandering?

[25:29] Daydreaming? When you're reading your Bible? What's the long. What's the. What's the most. The most you've read. You think. That. Uh. You finally stopped and went. Man.

[25:39] I'm just like. In another world. Right. Was it a verse? Was it. Uh. Half a page? Was it a whole. Chapter? Was it. Uh. A whole page? I mean. I've been.

[25:50] I've been there. I've been all of those. And. Depending on what I'm doing. You know. A lot of times. I'm building a project. Or I'm building something. You know. Especially when I start a new project. Or whatever. Uh.

[26:00] I mean. It all depends on how big that building is. You know. I could be. I could mind wander for two pages. And go. I don't have a clue. What I just read. If you ask me what book I was in.

[26:12] I couldn't tell you. I mean. Not the Bible. But you know. Genesis. Exodus. Lepidus. Whatever. So. Uh. What I want to tell you. Is you need to be present. The first part of the definition. About giving attendance.

[26:23] Is being present. You have to be present. If you're mind wandering. You ain't present. You're present. You're present somewhere. It just isn't in your Bible.

[26:33] You know what I'm talking about. You ever. You ever caught yourself mind wandering anybody but me. Yeah. Right. Uh. Yeah. One thing I've learned in 40 years is. We're the same. I'm made of the same stuff you are.

[26:46] And when you think that somebody is. Is. Is like. They don't make mistakes. And just remember. Hey. They're just like you. It's okay. Trust me. They're just like you.

[26:57] Um. So. You need to be present. You want to be present. When you're reading your Bible. If you catch yourself mind wandering. What I do is. When I catch myself wandering. Uh.

[27:08] And I finally realize it. I'm going back. That didn't count. Hmm. I remember when I first got saved. I read my Bible through.

[27:18] In like two and a half months. And I was just bathing. No idea what I'm doing. Uh. 15 years old. Just about. Just turned 16. And I. And I was locked up. And all that. Whatever. But.

[27:28] I was just bathing. I mean. I just figured. If I just get it in there. It's good. And it was right. I mean. That's good. You're getting it. It's good. But. At some point. You need to go past that. Right.

[27:39] At some point. That. That Bible. Needs to be. Hmm. Man. It's good. If you don't have time. If you don't have a time. And you get down in the Bible. And you read. And it ain't good.

[27:50] Something's wrong. Something's wrong. I mean. If you're a Christian. And. The Bible is not. I mean. It's liking the manna. You know.

[28:01] What it said about the manna. Right. That was. That was angels food. Man. It don't get much better than that. I mean. When you want. Just the garlics. And the leeks. And you don't want that manna.

[28:11] You're in a. You're in a bad place. Huh. Yeah. You're in a bad place. You need to be present. Don't be mind wandering. Give attendance to reading. The word of God.

[28:23] You can't give attendance. When you're somewhere else. The first thing is being present. Next one is. Listen. Listen. Right. The definition had to do with being present.

[28:34] And had to do with listening. You need to listen. I don't mean. You're not going to hear an audible voice. You know. I learned. That's one thing I learned in 40 years. Ain't nobody hearing that.

[28:46] Which is. We're the same. You making a decision by faith. You heard something by faith. It's all good. The Bible says. The just shall live by faith. But these voices.

[28:57] You think you're hearing loud. I mean. I heard it when I was young. You know. It's probably after one of my parties. But. It actually wasn't. I was really young. And I thought I heard. You know. I could describe it in the Bible.

[29:08] That it sounded like that. But whatever it was. It was telling me to be good. And that. That wasn't. That wasn't what I needed to be doing. I needed to be getting saved. But. You're not looking. For an audible voice.

[29:19] Anyway. You're looking for. Something. To communicate. Between God. And you. In your heart. And mind. That's what you're looking for.

[29:31] In the Bible. If you find yourself. Just reading your Bible. And there's nothing going on. And you can pick up another book. And it's exactly the same. Something's wrong. That's right.

[29:41] There ought to be something going on. Between heaven and here. In your mind and heart. In that word of God. Okay. That's about the simplest way I can put it. If you don't find anything like that going on.

[29:54] It's. There's something wrong. There needs to be this communication. You have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside. He's supposed to. Guide you in all truth. He's supposed to bring to your remembrance. So he. Is the one that does.

[30:06] Something. Between there. And here. When I'm reading the word of God. Listen. You need to listen. You're not looking for an audible voice.

[30:17] You're looking for that thing. That happens. Between God and you. In your mind and heart. How many times.

[30:27] You know. It's like. You know. When you're reading. How many times have you. Have you. You know. We talked about it. But how many times have you just said. Man.

[30:37] I didn't even get in. I thought about food. I was thinking about food. And I was thinking. How many times have you eaten something. And you thought. Man. Oh. You stop and you go. I never even got to taste that. I never even tasted it.

[30:49] You ever done that. I do that. Or you go. Or you go. Man. It's over already. There's a lot of times. When I try to. I stop. And I pay attention to my food. I go. Okay. I'm going to enjoy. This sandwich.

[31:00] I'm going to enjoy. What I'm eating. So I stop. And I pay attention to it. I'll make it. Hmm. I just close my eyes. You ever done that. You ever just close your eyes.

[31:11] And save it a moment. I do that with my food. That's what you should be doing. With the Bible. The Bible is our food. That's what we ought to be doing.

[31:22] With the Bible. It ought to just be. Man. That's good. If it isn't like that for you. I encourage you. To stay with it. It wasn't always like that for me.

[31:36] Probably the last 20 years. Good. But. When I started reading my Bible. Nothing. When I was at Bible school.

[31:48] Pensacola. You know. The bastion of Christianity. When I was there. I was falling asleep. While I was reading my Bible. Just. Just. Just. Not a whole lot going on.

[31:59] Just. Struggling with my Bible. Just didn't know. Took time. For some it's different. For some it's. You know. Earlier. That's great. That's what.

[32:09] It ought to be. It ought to be. It ought to get good somewhere. It needs to get good somewhere. If it ain't good. Talk to somebody. Get some help. It ought to be good.

[32:21] Ask God. Because it ought to be good. Okay. You need to be listening. Listen. Listen. Just like you would. Enjoy your food.

[32:34] You need to be listening. For something. That happened. Between God and us. The other. The last thing. In the. In the. Definition was. Give care.

[32:46] Or attention to. Give a care. You got to give. You got to give it. It's not going to happen by yourself. You've got to care. So.

[32:57] If you're not. If you're not caring. When you're reading your Bible. You. That's not good. All right. You need to care. Don't be careless.

[33:08] But be careful. When you're reading your Bible. Give care. When you're reading your Bible. I had a definition right here. See if I can find it. On this messy phone here. Oh.

[33:20] Care. Right there. I pulled it up earlier. To care about something. Means. To feel that it is important. And to be concerned about. Be concerned about it.

[33:31] It implies a sense of interest. And affection. What does your Bible mean to you? When you. You know. I would hope not.

[33:41] But when you leave here. Does your Bible go on the shelf? You know. I got an easy chair at home. That I like to sit in. My Bible goes right there. That's where it goes. I don't know about you.

[33:52] I used to. I used to not leave home without it. That's what I'm saying. Don't leave home without it. And I used to never leave home without my Bible. Well. I get it on my phone now. And I don't like that.

[34:03] But. I'm not saying don't have your Bible. I believe in books. I believe you need to keep that Bible. This app is good. But. Don't. Lose your Bible book.

[34:13] Caring about something. Means you consider it valuable. And meaningful. Is that what you think about your Bible? How valuable is your Bible? I think you know.

[34:25] I think sometimes. You know. About these fires that happen. If my. If a fire. Happened at my house. What would be. What would I run for? You know. The money gold here. I mean. You know. You gotta have money to start again.

[34:36] So. So I go for that. But. Man. I'd like to grab my Bibles. There's about five of them. That I've been through. In my life. You know. I'd like to have those. You know. The tapes. Ah.

[34:47] You know what. I'd like to have those. I might be grabbing those too. The books. Ah. I might want those too. But I think I'd like my Bibles first. I think that's where I'd be.

[34:57] I definitely know what my Bibles are. Caring about something. You consider it. Valuable. And meaningful.

[35:09] Alright. So if you're here tonight. And you. You give attendance to reading. You know. You might relate to that. You might go. You know what. Spot on. That's what I do. I give attendance to reading.

[35:21] I am present. I listen. I give care. Amen. Keep it going. But if you're here. And you. You fell off the wagon. You know. You talk to a lot of people.

[35:32] God used to read my Bible. Or I read my Bible. I read my Bible for a couple weeks. And then. Nah. You know. Got away from it. You know. If that's you. Come back. Give attendance to reading.

[35:43] Get it figured out. We're not talking about an age thing. If you're young. If you're old. You ought to be reading your Bible. You ought to be given attendance to reading. The Bible says.

[35:54] A just man falls seven times. And rises up again. Okay. You're going to fail. It's okay. You know. You say. Man. You know. You got to read your Bible every day.

[36:04] You know. Maybe. There'll be. There'll be a time. When you just miss it. For some reason. I get it. It's going to happen. It's okay. Just don't let it be. A habit.

[36:16] Amen. All right. Decide you're going to be present. Decide you're going to listen. And decide you're going to be present. To give care. Let's pray. Father.

[36:28] Thank you. For the Bible. And. I'm thankful that I can read. And. We got much to be thankful for. But. I pray tonight.

[36:40] For thy people. That you. For those. Who maybe have fallen off. Fell off the bandwagon. And maybe they're not reading. Or. They find themselves. Well. You know.

[36:50] Just not giving attendance to it. And those here that are. Praise thee God. And help them to continue. And for those that aren't. That help them to get.

[37:01] Get that fixed. And start doing it. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you.