I was reminded recently why it is so important to be reading your Bible! And although I have always known it is important (even when I am not daily reading it), there are times when I am astounded by how important it is.
I recently had a conversation with a fellow who was asking me about God’s love. He talked of all these feelings he had about who God was, how God loved people, and of how we don’t love one another as God intended that we should. I asked him if he knew what the Bible called it when we didn’t follow God’s way for us? He didn’t know so I suggested it was ”sin nature”. He followed up with several examples of not believing in something so negative and tried to assure me of the contradictions in the Bible. When I asked him if he had ever read through the Bible, he confessed he never had.
Now, the thing that resonated in my spirit, is how many of us (professed Christians in church) have never really read the Bible. Or read it through from cover to cover. That our exposure to the Bible consists of pulpit teachings, cell group meetings, occasional “I’m looking for something specific” moments, or relying on a grace-filled God to overcome our dread of reading His word. We often decide what we believe by what someone else tells us to believe, and when we rely on someone else, and not on God alone, those beliefs will be flawed by our human nature. Now I am not saying it isn’t good to hear from others but it is still our responsibility to line it up with God’s word. And the only way to do that is to read your Bible!
Find a place, find a time, find a method and work at it. It’s not always easy but you will eventually know what you believe but even better…….you will know why you believe it!
