The Danger of 10-Minute Devotions

Countless books and online resources have devotions that can be read in short amounts of time, often with Scripture, an impactful message, and even a prayer. Let’s take a look at what the Bible says about these types of resources:

for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. Hebrews 5:13

Biblically, anything like a devotion or a sermon that takes Scripture and makes it easier to understand is called milk. We encourage using devotions in our churches, small groups, and one-on-one discussions to help those young or still young start to grow.

What Is the Danger?

Timesaving convenience is being marketed all around us. We are told we can change habits in 30 days, prepare 20-minute meals, have 10-minute abs. However, we should not treat our relationship with God as something conveniently worked into the beginning or end of our day and an hour on Sunday.

Devotions do not make you devoted, and you cannot mature as a disciple of Christ on devotions and sermons alone. The danger is not using a devotion; the danger is thinking it is enough.

How Devotionals Can Help

For some, even with modern translations, the Bible can be intimidating initially. That is why devotions can help introduce you to a verse or passage and show you how to learn something from it. If you were learning to swim, it is like getting into a comfortably shallow portion of a pool and getting accustomed to the water and moving around.

A daily devotion can help you start a habit and, if you let it, teach you to want more.

The most important thing is not to limit your time to 10 to 20 minutes. You need to take the devotion with you during the day and learn to meditate on it. Allow it to teach you, but also inspire questions that require you to do your own research. If you are not quite ready for that step, ask for the help a spiritually mature Christian or a small group.

The Bible is endlessly fascinating, so please do not stay in the shallow end and don’t even stay in a pool. There are places you can swim that expose you to beautiful nature scenes, and if you learn to snorkel and dive, you will never run out of places to explore. Just like that, you can get to a place where you will never spend time with Scripture without experiencing something new.

I Am Reading a Daily Devotion Now. What Are My Next Steps?

If you have been reading devotions for a couple of months and you are ready to dig in, here are some suggestions:

Look at the Scripture they are using. Read it and ask the Holy Spirit if there is anything else you can learn besides what has been written for you. If there is, write it down and try to verify it. This will help you distinguish your thoughts from what the Holy Spirit gives you.

Next, if it is the kind of devotion that starts with Scripture. Only read the Scripture and follow this post:

Getting More Out of Your Bible Study

I also strongly suggest attending a Bible study with other Christians. Allow yourself to be new and ask questions. Let them help you.

Closing

When we are blessed with something, we should try to give that blessing to others. I cannot even begin to explain what my Bible has meant to me and how much I love it. I want everyone to have what I call a Psalm 119 relationship with their Bible.

Scripture used or considered in the writing of this blog post. All Scripture is in ESV format unless otherwise specified.

Genesis 3:1-5, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Psalm 91, Psalm 119, Proverbs 1:7, Matthew 4:1-11, Matthew 7:21-27, John 8:32, John 8:44, Ephesians 4:13-15, Hebrews 5:12-14, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Timothy 4:3-4

Post originally published: May 31, 2024 Updated July 24, 2026

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