This statement is correct if a quiet time is just a check list, an action to go through without real seeking.
Still, is it not better to be in God’s Word, knowing it will not return void, with poor motives than to not be in it at all?
If I told you the importance of drinking water, would you call me legalistic? Perhaps if I went into detail about how you need to drink your water, telling you it must be twelve ounces and it must take you one minute to drink a glass and you must do it every three hours, then you might say I am being legalistic. But, if I am just encouraging you to drink water every day and reminding you of its many benefits, then I am spurring you onto a good thing.
We all need to rehydrate each day by drinking water, so we also need to be rejuvenated by God’s Truth found in His word.
There are other drinks we can consume that can help keep us from being dehydrated but none do the same efficient work of water. Actually, there are some drinks, like coffee, that are diuretics: “All diuretics increase the excretion of water from bodies”. Even though it appears to be providing the body with fluid it is in reality taking it away at the same time.
There are other books we can read that will keep us from being completely void of God’s encouragement, but none do the same efficient work of the Bible. Actually, there are some books that can appear to give us hope but are promoting lies and the only way to discern this is to KNOW what the Bible says. There is no replacement for God’s Word when it comes to discerning between truth and a lie.
So you can call it legalism to choose a specific time each day to be in God’s Word, but I call it laying a firm foundation, something to build my life on.
As David did, “My voice will You hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up. I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in Your Word.” Ps. 5: 3, 119: 147.