both simple and touching. Though seventeen-year-old Hudson didn’t know it at the time, his mother and his thirteen-year-old sister had been praying for him. They both worried as young Hudson increasingly showed signs of rebellion and unbelief. One day, while flipping idly through his father’s books, Hudson happened upon a little tract about “the finished work of Christ.” Hudson recounts afterwards the moment when “dawned the joyful conviction, as light was flashed into my soul by the Holy Spirit, that there was nothing in the world to be done but to fall down on one’s knees and, accepting this Savior and His salvation, praise Him for evermore.” 

There are more incredible stories of conversion, but what impressed me about this story is its normalcy. This is what I wish for my children. You don’t need to hit rock bottom; you don’t need a near-death experience. Simply read the Bible, and allow the Holy Spirit to speak those same words later and make them real to you. Rhema, God’s instant speaking, is something we should experience with regularity.

Of course, this normal experience is becoming increasingly uncommon. Unlike Hudson, we don’t normally flip through books anymore. It is getting much harder to read the Bible. I should read, but my phone is buzzing, there are shows to watch, and that dopamine hit is only a click away.

One thing that has helped my Bible reading, is to control my immediate environment. It’s hard to diet when there’s ice cream in the fridge and cookies in the pantry. Throw out the junk food. Have half a doughnut in the office, and don’t buy a dozen to bring home. For me, I read in one specific spot in the house. The chair is comfortable, there’s a small table for my coffee mug, and no computer or remote within reach. Even then, my reading is not at 100%.

Just like dieting and exercising, reading the Bible is something you shouldn’t think you’ll “get to later.” It might help to read a physical Bible. I read an electronic version on a decrepit iPad. It has water damage; the touchscreen hardly works, so no games. The only thing it’s good for is reading, and only in dark mode if I want the battery to last for more than 20 minutes. Just like exercising, it helps to have a plan, and it helps to read with someone. I keep a schedule with a couple of other people. For us, failure is inevitable; we just help each other get back up.

I want my children to have the same experience Hudson had. I want them to have a deposit of the Word, that the Spirit can use later to enlighten them. As far as reading as a family, we’ve had fits and starts, but it’s probably time to start again. The Spirit speaks, and the language He uses is Bible.