Why is it that many Christians may be reading the Bible the wrong way without even realizing it?

Agenda. Yes, agenda. In its simplest meaning, an agenda is an outline or a plan. So, is it wrong to have a plan concerning the Word of God, or to take notes and outline the things written therein? Certainly not.

However, we must remember that these are His words, not yours or mine. Yes, we can read a person’s words and benefit by identifying certain things that speak to a given time or situation. But when we consider that Scripture is the Word of God, how often should we approach it with our own agenda already in hand?

We may come saying, “I need this, I need that, and this or that must change in my life,” so we approach His Word with a plan for a specific outcome.

It is needful…

Impatience whispers that God is late. It nudges us to take matters into our own hands, to fix what feels broken, to hurry what God is still shaping. But impatience rarely leads to blessing. It leads to exhaustion, frustration, and decisions we wish we could undo.

Patience, however, is a quiet strength. It steadies the heart. It keeps us from grasping at quick solutions and teaches us to rest in God’s timing. Patience is not passive; it is active trust. It is choosing to believe that God is already ahead of us, preparing what we cannot yet see.

Hope grows best in patient soil.

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Romans 8:25

That is to say. Hope grows in the places where we choose to wait instead of rush. In today’s understanding, Paul is reminding us that real hope is…

Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.

Revelation 3:10

Without patience you cannot endure. And what is kept in your heart will positioned you to be in the right mind or the opposite thereof.

The word kept, used above is the word tēreō, which implies to attend to carefully, to watch with the eyes, to prevent from escaping.

Considering this is how we have to keep the Word of God.

• To watch