The Importance of Reading the Bible- Part 3
The Importance of Reading the Bible – Part 1 The Importance of Reading the Bible – Part 2 Hebrews 4:12-13 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. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4: 12-13 has some good insight for us regarding the importance of reading the Bible! First, the word of God is alive and active! The Bible is an old, old book and an inanimate object, so for the writer of Hebrews to say it is alive and active is revealing! The words in our Bible will come alive to us as we read them! They pop from the page and speak to our hearts if we let them! Sometimes when we first start reading the Bible for ourselves it can seem dull, boring, and hard to understand but as we persevere and continue in His word it very quickly becomes active in our hearts! It causes us to come alive, to move and be moved! God is always moving, and His word is always speaking; His word is active and alive! You need that in your life! You need the very words of God to strengthen, sustain, and speak to you! It’s so important you read the Bible for yourself! Sharper than any double-edged sword This isn’t the only time we see the word of God referred to as a sword. In Ephesians 6, Paul writes that we should put on the full armor of God and he outlines each piece of the armor. He finishes by telling us to take up “…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:17b Now, here in Hebrews 4, we see that the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God) is actually sharper than even a double-edged sword, this weapon is powerful! In fact, it’s so powerful that it can penetrate even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow! It’s able to divide our human self from our spiritual self, parts of us that are inseparable the word of God can break apart to reveal what’s there. We see this as well when it says it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Those are private- my thoughts and my heart are mine alone- I may choose to reveal them through my words or actions but if I wish to fake it, no one but me knows what’s in there… well except for God! The word of God will judge my thoughts and attitudes of my heart. The word of God can get right to the real issues. The word of God can go right to the core and reveal what’s there. Because nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. God knows it all. Even things we don’t realize about ourselves, God sees and He knows! On our journey to seek God and to become more like Jesus we need the word of God to come in alive and active and speak to our hearts! We need the word of God to penetrate deep, dividing who we are from who we want to be, to separate us from ourselves so we can see the thoughts and attitudes in our hearts that are not as He wants. We need to be laid bare before the One that created us in order for Him to continue to mold us into His image and likeness! We need to read the Word- the Bible! We need to let that sword do its work in us!! Reading the Bible is so important! I hope this series has encouraged you on your journey of seeking Him! I hope you see that it’s more than a religious requirement but that we need His word for our growth! God has preserved His word through all these generations for our benefit! If you’re someone that enjoys a good checklist consider checking out this post and free checklist attachment to keep you on track in reading, prayer, and thinking about God! Do Checklists Keep You On Task? Be blessed as you seek Him! ~A.E.
The Importance of Reading the Bible – Part 2
2 Timothy 3:14-17 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. As we continue to look at the importance of reading the Bible let’s outline what this passages states scripture is useful for in verse 16. If you missed part 1, you can find it HERE All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for: Teaching Rebuking Correcting Training in Righteousness So that we (as servants of God) make be equipped to do good work! There’s another point in this passage, in verse 15, that states what the scriptures can do. The Bible is also able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus! We need all these things in our lives as we seek to be more Christ-like and grow in faith and knowledge of Jesus! I need Jesus to teach me! I need Jesus to rebuke me when I’m wrong! I need Jesus to correct me when I’ve gone off course! I need Jesus to continually train me in righteousness that I may most clearly reflect Him to everyone around me. I need wisdom to keep my eyes focused on Jesus that I might obtain salvation through faith in Jesus alone! All these things that I need come from the scripture, the Bible! It’s vitally important that I read my Bible for myself daily so that Jesus can continue His good work in me! It’s important to note that the scriptures Paul is referencing here in his letter to Timothy are of course only our Old Testament scriptures. The New Testament of our Bible hadn’t been assembled yet, as Paul was unknowingly writing some of it! How blessed we are to have such free access to the scriptures! With free bible apps and webpages, it has never been easier to read the Bible. But it’s still a decision we must make. It’s still a choice and an action that we must do. Make a decision today that you will get in the word of God a bit more than you currently do. If you never read the Bible, make a commitment to yourself that you’ll start reading once per week. If you read it once per week choose to increase that to twice a week. Wherever you are, take a tiny step to pursue Him just a tiny bit more! He will reward you by molding you a tiny bit more into His likeness! And that’s the greatest reward of all. To following Him and being unwilling to remain the same! Be Blessed! ~A.E. If you find you need some help understanding what you read or knowing where to start reading, consider checking out my 40 Day independent study! It’s specifically designed to help you understand what you’re reading with thought provoking questions to make you think. You can check it out HERE
The Importance of Reading the Bible – Part 1
Sometimes reading the Bible can feel like just something else we have to do. The demands on our time and energy are endless and something easy to skip is reading our Bible daily. But it is truly to our benefit to read our Bible daily. We are called to be like Christ, so we must know what Christ is like. We must know what His example to us is to grow in our faith and relationship with Him. The other day we talked about how God will use our struggles if we let Him. You can check out that post here. God wants to make us into His likeness. That doesn’t happen automatically. Automatically we are selfish and self-centered. Jesus is not. We must read His word and spend time with Him in prayer to know who He is and who He wants us to be. If Jesus, while on earth, saw the value understanding the scriptures for Himself then we certainly should too! Luke 2:41-52 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. 42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. 43 After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44 Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” 49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them. 51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. Even as a child Jesus had a desire to sit with those who taught the scriptures, to listen to them and ask them questions. He knew the importance of knowing those scriptures. We should follow the example of Jesus by striving to know those scriptures as well by reading them ourselves as well as faithfully attending a Bible believing church and learning what we can from the pastors and teachers; we should seek to ask quality questions and grow in understanding. Life is hard. Life is incredibly hard. Knowing the truth of God’s word can help you through the toughest of times. We need to know God’s word to be able to discern truth from lies. Jesus did. If He did, we certainly do. Matthew 4:1-11 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. Jesus was tempted by the devil himself! The devil even threw scripture at Him! But Jesus knew the scriptures and He knew when they were being used incorrectly and He was able to respond with truth! When we are walking through a difficult season, we must be able to discern the truth of God from lies regardless of who the lies come from or how good they sound. We can only do this if we are spending time in the Bible and we know the truth! It’s a powerful resource for us as Christians and we take it for granted! We don’t invest the time we should to grow in truth! Start today. Be encouraged. We all struggle. We all fail. We don’t do everything we want or need to. Don’t put an unrealistic expectation on yourself but begin to seek and strive for a bit more! One tiny nugget at a time! Be blessed. ~A.E.
