When it comes to spending time with God, reading his word and praying, we often play around with terms like duty and delight. We know it ‘should’ be a delight; indeed we know it can be a delight. However, the reality is that we often require a good dose of discipline and perseverance to habitually meet with our Lord.  We are well aware that if we waited for it to be a felt / anticipated delight before we got going we could be waiting a long time. On the other hand, if we get on with our ‘duty’, in God’s kindness we can eventually find ourselves tasting at least in part of the delights on offer.

But maybe it is simpler than that. Maybe we just need to do it because we know we need to. Like eating. Eating can indeed be a delight…

It is also a duty – when we don’t feel we can spare the time / effort we do our duty by our bodies by giving them what they need to keep them going.

I’m struggling at the moment to spend regular time with the Lord. I’m no where near duty let alone delight – but I do know that I need my Lord. So I’ll nibble away at the word of God, and I’ll open my mouth to speak to my Father even if I am unsure of what I can possibly utter. And that’s OK – because he’s got me – he delights in me, and will do his ‘duty’ (massive inverted commas) by me in Christ Jesus.

As I heard in a talk this week: Keep it simple, keep it real and keep it going.

And by the grace of God I will.