“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT)
If you’re just reading the Bible like you’d read an email or a novel, you’re missing the point of reading the Bible. Please don’t read out of obligation, but out of recognition of the great privilege and honor it is to have God’s Words in front of you. These are not the words of men about God, they are God’s words about Himself and about me and you. He has given them as a gift to be cherished, not an obligation to be dreaded.
If you don’t want to read the Bible, by all means, don’t read it. Let it set as you would a sizzling steak on the table or tickets to your favorite sports team on the nightstand. It’s your loss. The Lord won’t punish you for not reading, studying, and treasuring your Bible, you’re punishing yourself by being so near-sighted and spiritually blind.
To hurriedly read a few verses to check a “box” is to rob yourself of spiritual nourishment your soul desperately desires and needs. The Bible is like a letter or an email from a loving family member or friend. We read it and reread it, not simply to understand the message of the words, but to “hear” the heart of their author.
We want to experience their presence, feel their warmth, and sense their love. We want to hear their laughter or share in their sorrow; experience with them the joy of their triumph or the sadness of their pain. The Bible is God’s invitation to enter into His presence, feel the strength of His loving arms around us, hear the whisper of His heart as He shares His words of encouragement, love, instruction, correction, and guidance with us.
These are words of life, literally, words apart from which we can’t function in our life as a believer. Failing to read, study, and ingest the nourishing words of Scripture is to deprive ourselves of water when crossing the desert. It’s to intentionally will ourselves to a slow, agonizing, spiritual death. We literally cannot grow and develop as a child of God without the spiritual nutrition afforded us by God’s Holy Word.
And this is much more than listening to someone else read, preach, or explain God’s Words. We can sit at the window of a restaurant and watch people eat all day and night, but it won’t give us an ounce of strength for our journey. Pastor Corky Calhoun said: “I am convinced reading Scripture without living it is a waste of time. It’s just information without application.”
Scripture is the road map upon which we plan our life’s journey. Without the guidance of the Bible we won’t have a plan, a strategy, a pathway upon which to travel on our faith journey. How do we learn to love God and receive love from Him? How do we grow as a believer in the Lord Jesus? How do we cope with the pressures of life when they close in on us like the arms of a huge machine?
I hear the whispers of my Savior as He shares His love for me. I hear His sound counsel as He instructs, guides, corrects, encourages, inspires, and challenges me. I see examples of who I need to be like and the kinds of people I need to avoid; how I should pray, worship, live, obey, submit, thrive, celebrate, and a thousand other things the Lord wants to show me through His Holy Words.
Please don’t just read the Bible. Let it feed and nourish your soul so you can be all God has called you to be to His honor and fame. As a child of God you’re not living just for yourself.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 