“For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before His eyes, and He is the one to whom we are accountable.” (Hebrews 4:12-13 NLT)
If we blow through the pages of Scripture to check a box we’re going to miss the message, and to miss the message is to miss the Author’s intent. What is the Author’s intent? To allow us to stand before the “x-ray machine” of God and view what’s really in us; what we’re really made of in the eyes of the God who knows us better than we know ourselves.
Why is that important for us to know? If you have an interview for a new job or new position within your company, don’t you think it would be important to know what they’re going to expect of you? What qualifications you bring to the table? How you’re going to make the most contribution to the good of the company? Otherwise, why would they want you? Why would they waste their time interviewing you?
Scripture enables us to see ourselves as spent, worthless, valueless to the Kingdom of God unless and until we see ourselves from a proper perspective. When we’re full of ourselves, thinking we’re “all that,” when from the perspective of the Kingdom of God we’re of no eternal value, something has to change if we ever hope to make it to heaven.
Ron Hutchcraft gives us insight when he shares: “There are three ways to read the Bible. You can read it for information, you can read it for inspiration, and you can read it for transformation. And that last one is what God has in mind. When you pick up the Bible, are you asking every time you read it, ‘What connection does this make to something I’m going to face today?’ Start a spiritual diary, and in it you write two things: What did I read today; what is God saying here and put it in your own words… not Bible words. And then, ‘what am I going to do differently today because of what God said?’ The Bible isn’t just to be mastered. It’s to be obeyed.”
How are YOU reading the Bible? One day we’re all going to stand before the living God to give an account of our lives; for the decisions we made and why we made them. But most importantly, what we did with Jesus. Did we yield our lives and allegiance to Him by faith and follow Him closely, love Him dearly, and serve Him with passion? Or did we ignore His sacrifice and pretend it didn’t matter?
The tragedy to me is that many will stand before the Lord completely ignorant of these things, believing they’re going to be okay with God and given entrance into His perfect heaven, but why? Because the Bible never became their trusted companion; they never took the time to read and understand it. They believed saying a prayer and going to church was all it took.
Dear friend, if the Bible is not a daily companion with whom you spend time and make the effort to understand it’s truths, you’re missing a key ingredient in having joy in Jesus. You’re missing the truths you could learn, the promises that are yours, the intimacy with the Father you can have in no other way. Please don’t allow the enemy of your soul to rob you of vital time spent reading, studying, learning, memorizing, and sharing God’s Holy Words.
Don’t read out of obligation, but out of joy in your love for its Author.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed😊
Walking With Jesus 