What are devotionals all about? Do you need to read or listen to them? Why are there so many to choose from? What are the best ones to choose from? Let’s try and unpack these questions together today.

Devotionals have been around for several hundred years. Almost as soon as the printing press was invented, pamphlets began circulating with the goal of encouraging believers. It wasn’t too long afterward that sermons began being published. Bunyon wrote “Pilgrim’s Progress” in 1678 and Spurgeon published his famous “Morning and Evening” in 1865. Lettie Cowman penned “Streams in the Desert” in 1925 and Oswald Chambers’ wife compiled the famous “My Utmost For His Highest” in 1927.

The 1900’s opened a floodgate for Christian publishing. Authors like CS Lewis, JR Tolkien, AW Tozer, Henry Blackaby, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Chuck Colson are some of my favorites. The hotter the presses became, the more writers came out of the woodworks. Numbers of readers soared. Everything from dime novels, comics and romance novels to biography, serious works of fiction and yes, devotionals appeared by the truckloads. And they were all devoured.
When digital publishing (ebooks, podcasts, e-newsletters, apps) became a thing, the gates opened even wider. Today the choices are so many, it’s easy to just get lost in the sauce. It’s equally easy to grab outright heresy. Every Tom, Dick and Harry with a microphone thinks he has words worth listening to. Everyone, it seems, has a quick minute with the Bible. How do you know who to listen to or read? 

First, let me say this. The Bible is our number one go-to. A devotional is one man’s opinion on the Word. Anyone who tries to take the place of the Word is a no go. If the goal of the devotional is to point you to the Word, you should feel motivated to spend more time with the Bible than you do with the devotional. If the opposite is true, put that devotional down.

I love reading biographies, mainly because I love a good story. I’d rather read a bio than watch a movie. I’d rather read than listen to someone talk to me about what they’ve just read. I’m a different guy, I know, but that’s just me. You have to find out what works for you. What I know is, we all need coaches. We all need people in our lives who point us to Jesus. How do I know this? We were never meant to walk out faithfulness all by ourselves. My encouragement is to find a good author who points you to the Word, lights a fire in your soul for the Gospel and then read/listen!

I read three blogs each day. One is called The Pour Over and is just straight US/world news. The other two deal with how our culture is impacting us and how the Church is responding to it. They are the “Daily Citizen Morning Headlines” by Focus on the Family and “Breakpoint” by the Colson Center. It takes me about 15 minutes to read all three of these and they ARE NOT devotionals. But they do point me to the Word and they help me know what is going on in the world around me.

I have a few trusted publishers I read without a lot of question. I’m not going to spend my time reading a bunch of nonsense because I like the title. I don’t need another dose of “Chicken Soup for the Soul” to aid my devotional time. I don’t need to listen to someone talk about reading the Word for 30 minutes before I actually pick it up. My strength does not come from others’ opinions. My wisdom isn’t sourced in others’ thoughts. The Word of God is my source of strength, hope and light. If a devotional book isn’t going to help me get into the Word quickly and encourage me to stay there, I don’t need it on my shelf.

Is this helpful? I feel like these words need to be said because of the crazy amount of material we have available to us today. You can buy devotionals in gas stations and at Dollar General. You can download any number of devotional apps on your phone. You get bombarded daily with tons of shouting preachers and soft talking ladies with a cup of coffee in your Facebook reels. I’m saying these things because you and I need a filter through which we can pour our words. And if the words/books/listening doesn’t make the cut, get rid of it. Time is precious. Don’t waste it on words that don’t help.