Technology has made life easier. Everyday tasks that once took real effort can now be done with barely a thought. You no longer need to preheat the oven when you have an air fryer. You don’t need a clothesline when you’ve got a tumble dryer. You don’t even need to sit down with a book when you can just listen to one on your commute. Efficiency is the new norm, and in many ways, it’s made life more convenient.
But not everything benefits from being sped up. Somewhere along the way, this pursuit of convenience has shaped how we approach spiritual things too. If technology can make everything faster, then why not our time with Scripture? Can we really know God’s Word without slowing down? Should we expect the same results if we cut corners?
Psalm 119 offers us a different pace. It’s the longest chapter in the Bible, and almost every verse points us back to the value of knowing and loving God’s Word. It’s not a chapter you rush through. It’s a chapter that invites you to sit down, take your time, and pay attention. Verse 1 opens with a bold claim: “How happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk according to the Lord’s instruction.” Then a few verses later comes a question many of us are still asking: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping your word” (verse 9). The message is clear. If we want to live wisely, if we want to walk in God’s ways, we need to know what He’s actually said.
That kind of knowledge doesn’t come passively. In verse 97, the psalmist writes, “How I love your instruction! It is my meditation all day long.” This isn’t background noise. It is focused, daily attention. Real love for God’s Word doesn’t come from exposure alone it comes from engagement. Jen Wilkin once said, “Your heart can’t love what your mind doesn’t know.” That line stays with me. Because in a culture where we’re used to quick results and multitasking, we risk approaching Scripture like everything else, something to be skimmed, scanned, or summarised. But the psalmist reminds us that joy is found in the slow process of learning, not just in the results.
Verses 15 and 16 give us a beautiful window into that joy: “I will meditate on your precepts and think about your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.” Notice how delight doesn’t come instead of discipline. It comes through it. The more we sit with the Word, the more it shapes us. The more we return to it, the more it becomes a source of real joy.
It’s easy to think we’re engaging with Scripture just because we’ve played a podcast or scrolled past a verse. But the truth is, you can’t rush transformation. You can’t fast-track relationship. There’s no substitute for taking time in God’s presence, reading slowly, asking questions, and letting His Word speak to you.
So maybe the challenge isn’t to find the quickest way to spend time with God. Maybe the challenge is to resist that instinct entirely. To put the phone down, open your Bible, and stay a little longer. Because the joy isn’t just at the end of the study — it’s found in the study itself.