Little girls love little windows that peek into little rooms. At least I did as a child. That’s why I was so excited to look inside the diorama set up in the church lobby. The sermon that day was on Proverbs 4:23, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” The display’s interior represented the human heart. Not the beating organ in our chests, but the seat of our emotions, affections, and thoughts—the command center of our lives. I wondered what I would see when I reached the little window at the front of the line.
The scene did not disappoint—it was a cozy living room, bathed in soft light and featuring a real fountain bubbling in the corner. A bookcase lined the back wall, filled with colorful books, and in the center stood a green velvet couch with a Bible lying open on it. A stuffed animal kitten curled up asleep on the rug, and a table with cookies and a pot of tea sat beside the couch. It was everything a girl could want. I wanted to transport myself into the scene and live there!
The lovely room was an illustration that a heart kept by the Word of God is a place of peace and rest. There was order, diligence, and scholarship in the room, evident in the books on the bookcases and the open Bible. The gurgling fountain in the back made the room teem with life, and its warmth invited you to linger rather than rush through.
Of course, that was only a picture, perhaps an idealistic vision of a well-ordered, life-giving, and overflowing human heart. The question is not whether it was a realistic picture, but what might the living room of your heart look like?
The window of your heart
If someone were to peek through the window of your heart right now, what would they see? Is the Bible open and speaking to you? Or does it sit silently on the bookshelf, collecting dust?
Christians know we need to read the Bible and pray. This is how God speaks to us, and how we experience his peace, love, and joy. However, if we’re honest, there are times when we struggle to open it, because it feels like a box to check, rather than the greatest joy of our lives. If our heart is the wellspring of our lives, we might feel like our spring has dried up and in need of living water to flow again.
The way we engage with the Word shapes the order of our hearts and lives, even in the midst of chaos. That little window, through which I peeked all those years ago, was a vivid illustration of Proverbs 4:23, but it was also my first picture of holy leisure.
I didn’t know that phrase back then, but it represented something I think we all want in our walk with the Lord—peace, rest, and a joyful pursuit of godliness. When I discovered the phrase ‘holy leisure,’ it almost instantly shifted my mindset from reading God’s Word out of duty to one of delight. I began to see my time in God’s Word not as a box to check, as if I’d done my religious duty for the day, but as my holy leisure, the greatest joy of my heart.
How to pursue holy leisure
Are you keeping your heart with all vigilance? Do you want the wellspring of living water to flow from you once again, or perhaps for the first time? Does the idea of your quiet time being a pursuit of holy leisure resonate with you? If so, I hope you’ll stay tuned for my upcoming book, The Pursuit of Holy Leisure: Enjoying God in Everyday Places, releasing in March 2026.
Inside, you’ll learn how holy leisure invites you to move beyond guilt-driven routines and embrace a mindset of restful, joyful communion with God. You’ll discover how holy leisure equips you for maximum enjoyment of God in the hidden, familiar, hard, and fruitful places of your life. In short, you’ll learn how to pursue a life of holy leisure.
Sometimes, though, it’s hard to know where we’re staring from. We come to God’s Word with certain habits, strengths, and struggles, and seeing those clearly is the first step toward growth. That’s why I created a short quiz: to help you peek through the window of your heart and reflect on how you currently approach God’s Word.
How do you approach God’s Word?
This free quiz, “Discover Your Quiet Time Approach,” will guide you through six questions to help you determine how you uniquely approach God’s Word. This isn’t a personality quiz; it’s a tool to help you see where you might be stuck and how God’s Word, through holy leisure, invites you to grow.
Each possible outcome is represented by a biblical character who shared some of those same tendencies. With your results, you’ll receive a devotion tailored to that person’s story in Scripture. Upon first glance, are you more like…?
1. The Legalist (Martha)
Like Martha of Bethany, the Legalist finds her identity and worth in faithful service and doing what’s right. Her genuine desire is to honor God, but it can be eclipsed by service and ‘doing’ things in Jesus’ name.
2. The Perfectionist (Job)
Like Job, the Perfectionist is earnest in pursuing righteousness and attentive to matters of the heart, but it can also create pressure to perform for God’s approval.
3. The Feeler (Elijah)
Like Elijah, the Feeler experiences high highs and low lows in her spiritual walk. This sensitivity can bring a keen awareness of God’s work, but can also easily slip into discouragement.
4. The Striver (Jacob)
Like Jacob, the Striver is persistent in seeking God’s blessing and unwilling to let go in seasons of struggle. While this is admirable, it can also be accompanied by a subtle reliance on self or spiritual discipline to secure God’s favor.
5. The Scholar (Paul)
Like Paul, the Scholar treasures deep study of Scripture and seeks to understand God’s truth with clarity. This passion for learning is a gift, but it can drift into intellectual mastery without heart transformation.
6. The Traditionalist (Nicodemus)
Like Nicodemus, the Traditionalist values structure, faithfulness, and consistency in her spiritual life; these are stabilizing rhythms, but they can also become rote and lifeless without the Spirit’s help and renewal.
7. The Athlete (Peter)
Like Peter, the Athlete, is bold and action-oriented, and ready to take risks for Christ. This zeal is inspiring, yet it can falter when one’s focus shifts from Christ to surrounding challenges.
8. The Psalmist (Mary of Bethany)
Like Mary of Bethany, the Psalmist delights in Jesus’ presence and treasures his Word above all else. This posture fosters deep intimacy with Christ, even when distractions attempt to divert attention away.
Keeping your heart
Each of these quiet time “types” reminds us of our human tendencies in how we approach God’s Word. The invitation is to grow more like the Psalmist who personifies the heart of holy leisure and treasures Christ above all. That is what the pursuit of holy leisure is all about: not duty for its own sake, not perfection, and not to keep up your quiet time streak, but to enjoy God as the one thing most desired.
Proverbs 4:23 reminds us, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” The surest way to guard the inner room of your heart is with God’s Word open before you, letting its living waters fill and refresh you daily. And at that wellspring, you’ll find a heart kept, and a soul at ease, enjoying the quiet pursuit of holy leisure.
That little window showed me an ideal, but God’s Word makes it real: a heart guarded by his Word is a fountain of living waters that never runs dry.
Come and drink deeply,
Cara
Curious about your results? You can take the quiz here.
P.S. If you’ve taken the quiz, I’d love it if you could share your results and thoughts below!
P.P.S. If you’d like to walk through all 8 of the types listed above in a devotional format, I invite you to check out my free YouVersion Plan “One Thing”
2 Responses
I actually believe that the results of the quiz were completely accurate in terms of the explanation of the different ways in which we approach The Word of God and how we spend our ‘leisure’ time with Him. Your quiz revealed that my ‘habits’ are like those of Peter and I couldn’t agree more. So now I have a purpose. And that purpose is to be more like the ‘psalmist’, which is exactly what I believe God wants from me as well.
Thanks Cara,
Joseph Thigpen
That’s so encouraging, Joseph! Thanks for letting me know! Yes, we need to strive to enter that Psalmist’s heart of resting at Christ’s feet. Blessings to you!