Read the Bible
Good Morning,
I am afraid that many Christians have grown comfortable in their Christian lives. At some point, each Christian received Christ and grew in faith, mercy, and love, and God provided a stable life for them. Their jobs, homes, and marriages are stable, and no great fear drives them — they are safe and secure. The fear I have for them is the fact that they may easily drift from the Lord. Trouble and danger drive us to God; ease leads us to casual and complacent living. It is not uncommon for believers to go days or weeks without reading their Bibles. Like Catholics, they rely on the pastor to talk to God for them.
Isaiah 34:16 “Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read…”
Joshua 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night…”
The idea that we do not need God’s Word daily is a deadly assumption. I love the fact that I lived around people who knew they needed their Bible every day. My mom and dad would never go a day without reading their Bible. My children grew up knowing grandma and grandpa read the Bible, and the Scriptures were often in our conversation. My wife not only reads daily, but her idea of the perfect vacation is to spend several hours each morning reading and studying her Bible.
We must remember that we are not spiritual creatures; we are carnal. Unless our “old man” is kept yielded to God, we will be subject to the carnal wishes of the flesh. Being carnal is not what we do, but what we are. Spiritual is what we are inside, our walk with God and our yielding to His will. One who is spiritual daily seeks to know the Father’s will and yields his life to that divine plan for the day.
John 5:39 “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life…”
When God explained the circumstances of having a king, He made it clear that the king needed to spend time daily in his Bible. Reading the Bible daily will keep us from future foolishness.
Deuteronomy 17:19 “And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:”
We are to read, teach, talk, and walk the Bible!
Deuteronomy 6:6 “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart…”
vs. 7 “And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”
Psalm 119:97 “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.”
Do not be so foolish as to think we know enough Bible that we do not need to read it daily. Cultivating the spiritual man through the truths of God’s Word is the main goal; knowing the facts of the Bible is not the objective. Do not allow yourself to grow carnal and complacent to the point of not reading and studying the Bible daily. We need daily Bible reading just like we need water.
Thoughtlessly reading our Bibles will cause us to fail in the relationship to our Bible. If we simply look at words or glance over them like skimming a newspaper, we will soon treat the Bible with the same love and passion as the newspaper.
A mature believer should know how to study his Bible, and how to think, consider, grasp truth, and find lessons. The Bible is an eternal Book; we will never begin to grasp Its depths and riches.
2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
As you read the Bible daily, It should teach you and reveal faults in your life as a mirror; the Word of God should expose you to you!
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
While reading your Bible, truths ought to open up about your heart. While reading the Bible, you should suddenly find yourself ashamed of words or actions; you should find yourself exposed to the light of the Word, revealing your inner motives, plans, and dreams. Like a mirror that magnifies your face, faithfully studying your Bible will reveal details in your heart and life; sin will be exposed and selfishness will be revealed.
One might say, “Things in my life are good, and I am fine reading occasionally.” Two dangers exist with this mentality:
1. You slowly grow carnal and end up doing something terrible that you should not have done.
2. You slowly grow carnal and fail to do something very important that God intended you to do.
What can you do to help?
1. Find a set time and place to read daily.
2. Have a plan where in the Bible you will read daily: such as Proverbs for the day of the month, or two chapters in the New Testament each morning and two chapters in the Old Testament each evening, etc.
3. Write something down every day from your Bible reading. Read, think, crystallize an idea and put it on paper; and then read back over what you wrote the previous day.
4. Pray before you read and ask God to teach you something.
5. Confess your cold heart towards the Bible; call it sin and ask for forgiveness.
6. Use your Bible: teach a class, witness, or talk to your spouse about your Bible if possible.
“Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life, let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life…”
Pastor