Reading The Bible

And that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.  2 Timothy 3:15-17 NASB

I love the Bible. It is the primary way God has chosen to reveal Himself to us. It’s the gift He uses to tell us who He is and to explain His heart, mind, character, nature, and will. I read somewhere that when you read Scripture, not only are you reading the Bible, the Bible is speaking to you! Maybe that’s why Hebrews 4:12 NIV teaches us, "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Over and over, Jesus tells us if we know Him then we know God.  And the primary way we get to know Jesus is through the Bible. It’s His powerful, authoritative, enlightening, and life-changing self-expression. It’s the very breath of God on each page! 

In the same way that spending time and communicating with my husband Mike is essential for me to know him, so it is with the Bible as it pertains to knowing the Lord! 

My friends, without true devotion to the Bible, we will quickly lose sight of the true, genuine Gospel of Jesus Christ! Without hiding His Word in our hearts, we won’t be able to recognize His voice when He speaks!

It’s truly a remarkable thing, a bewildering gift from the Lord, that we have a Bible we can read whenever we want!  Can you imagine! that for almost all of human history, dating back to the Old Testament and through most of church history up until a few centuries ago, and actually even today in many places around the world, Christians have not had their own personal copies of the Bible. 

They had to come together to hear someone read it to them. And there were some folks too who didn’t have access to a copy to read, but had to recite it from their memories: rabbis, scholars, priests, and Pharisees would literally memorize the first five books of the Bible!

It really puts Apostle Paul’s instruction to “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture” into perspective, doesn’t it? Because the public reading of Scripture was all most believers had since the dawn of God’s Church!