I am not a reader. I do not have time. I just don’t understand it.

The most common excuses I hear from people who refuse to regularly read God’s Word. I write today with the hope of giving you some motivation to toss those excuses like an empty drive-thru sack into a gas station garbage can.

I took my oldest to Birmingham for a doctor’s appointment this week. Pure excitement—I know. We park, walk, check in, and sit in the waiting room. The scene is quiet. One other man accompanies us in the stale room of weathered, black pleather chairs.

Moments later, the doctor comes and whisks my daughter away, leaving me with the man who appears to be doing the same task as I am.

My computer, notebook, calendar, and writing utensils fill my lap as I occupy one of the waiting room chairs. I feel like I could be a billboard for “busy-ness” that needs no caption. I guess I did need a caption after all, because the man serves me a little small-talk appetizer; I’m not rude—I’ll have a bite.

We start with, “Where are you from? What brings you to Alabama?” Then, “What sort of work do you do?” He replies with “writer.” You can hear the line peeling off the reel—I am hooked.

Now, like a 5-year-old, I’m asking one question after the next. Come to find out, this man is a prolific writer. He’s written many books—not blogs or Facebook posts—books! I’ve got to know more, so I inquire. This is when things start to glitch a little.

Turns out, he writes fictional books of a religious nature. Once I learn this, I’m going to walk through that open door and ask, “Have you placed your faith in and have a relationship with Jesus Christ?” He’s not surprised by my question, but he surprises me with his response. I can’t remember it verbatim, but the part that gave me pause was that he didn’t need “faith,” even though he claimed a relationship with God and Jesus. I didn’t set up a chair by the “faith” statement because I figured that question would answer itself eventually.

Next, the conversation turned to the Bible. He professed a little disdain for the canon and how it was determined, but he was still a “reader” and proponent of the Bible—Genesis to Revelation.

I guess my curiosity about his writing and stance on the Bible piqued his interest, and he finally asked what I did for a living. I couldn’t think of a way to avoid the question, so I simply said, “Pastor and content creator.” The look on his face told me we were about to go deeper in this conversation—and I was right.

He asked if I’d ever read about the “Rings of Solomon” in the Bible. My mind brought no search results back, so I asked for more details to be sure I was understanding. The story he told was wild, if he told it accurately. I very calmly, coolly, respectfully said, “That ain’t Bible.” He looked at me like I’d just stolen a cornbread muffin off his plate. I remained stoic—play or fold—what you gonna do?

He played. He pulled a MacBook out of his bag and began to type. No words. He was reading and concentrating. More typing, reading, and concentrating. Finally, he grasped the laptop screen with both hands, closed it, looked at me, and said as he replaced it in his bag, “You are right, that is not in the Bible.”

Did he really think it was in there? Was it a test? Random happenstance? I’m unsure.

Here’s what I am sure of: If I wasn’t a regular reader of my Bible, then two people would have been in a ditch instead of one. I’d have been believing some demonic “rings of Solomon” story was in Scripture. I might’ve even told folks about it—or preached it this Sunday.

Your test could be waiting for you in society today. And if you aren’t a regular reader of God’s Word, you could fail, be pulled into the ditch, and misled to someplace you don’t want or need to go.

Pray and get in God’s Word this morning. I’ve already been in, and I can faithfully report—the water is fine!

God bless and Happy Saturday!