When You Don’t Get Anything Out of Devotions

A college student stands in front of the mirror to get a good look at his biceps. Not very impressive. It’s the beginning of the semester and he decides to do something about it. He’s tired of looking wimpy and struggling to open pickle jars, so he resolves to make changes in his life.

So he goes all in. He buys protein powder. Googles what diet he should do and what workout program would work best. Buys new clothes. Goes to the gym, which is packed out, because it’s the first week of the school year. Then he works out for a good hour, comes back to his dorm room, and looks in the mirror.

Nothing has changed, so he quits.

No, he doesn’t quit. You don’t expect to see a drastic change overnight. But he continues to work at it. Some days he misses. Occasionally he cheats on his diet. But he stumbles along, developing the skill of working out and getting better and better at it. After a week nothing looks that different. After a month, you can kind of tell. After a semester, there’s noticeable change. After 5 years, he’s unrecognizable.

No, this isn’t a challenge to make generic resolutions and keep with it. I tell that story because I think it’s a helpful way of thinking about our spiritual growth. Often people get excited to get started on a Bible reading plan, but motivation can quickly evaporate if we don’t think about things rightly. So let’s retell this story from that perspective.

A college student comes back to his room after a message that forces him to take a good look at his spiritual life. Not very impressive. It’s the beginning of the semester and he decides to do something about it. He’s tired of living in the flesh and struggling with the same dumb sins over and over, so he resolves to make changes in his life.

So he goes all in. He buys a journaling Bible. Googles what reading plan he should do and what has worked best for others. Buys a few Bible study resources. Finds a quiet place to do his devotions everyday, which is challenging, because it’s the first week of the school year and everyone is looking for a spot. Then he reads and prays for a good hour, comes back to his dorm room, and goes on with his life.

Nothing has changed, so he quits.

No, he doesn’t quit. You don’t expect to see a drastic change overnight change. But he continues to work at it. Some days he misses. Occasionally he makes sinful choices that really set him back. But he stumbles along, developing the skill of Bible reading and getting better and better at it. After a week nothing looks that different. After a month, you can kind of tell. After a semester, there’s noticeable change. After 5 years, he’s unrecognizable.

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Now, this isn’t a perfect analogy. Sometimes God meets with us in a special way. Occasionally a verse or a phrase or a thought can revolutionize our lives, but I have found that those times tend to be rare. Rather, it’s the slow and steady repetition of reading God’s Word, asking Him to change me, and watching as that happens little by little through the weeks, months, and years.

C.S. Lewis described this dynamic well in Mere Christianity when he said:

Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature.

So read God’s Word in 2026. Do it regularly. Do it when you feel like, it and when you don’t. Find a time, pick a plan, and stick with it. And trust that as you focus your mind on God day by day you will slowly find yourself being changed by the Spirit through the Word to be like Christ.

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