Be / Become a Bible-Reading Christian
1. Why Should You Read Your Bible Daily?
As Christians, we are supposed to know that reading the Bible is essential. Still, I’m surprised to see sometimes how many Evangelical believers read the Word of God only sporadically.
Why is that? Why is it that so many Christians don’t have the motivation to feed on God’s Word?
Although the Bible is the all-time bestseller of all the books in history, we have to admit that most of the Bibles that are bought only collect dust on shelves. (In a sense, it’s true for me, too, as I have about ten Bibles in my home, but I cannot read all ten at once.)
But instead of lamenting how much the Bible is not read, let’s see why we need to read the Scriptures.
First of all, the Bible is our spiritual food.
“And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4).
Think how much food we need. For a healthy body, we need to eat daily. How healthy can anyone be if he only eats once or twice a week?
And how healthy can a Christian be if he reads the Word of God only once or twice a week?
It’s good to go to church and listen to sermons. It’s good to have interactions with other believers. But we cannot miss personal Bible reading.
For a healthy spiritual life and growth in God’s grace and love, we need proper nourishment. That nourishment is the Word of God.
The second reason to read our Bibles is that it is the primary weapon of our spiritual warfare.
The previous quote (Luke 4:4) from Jesus was His answer to satan’s attack against Him. Without knowing the Scriptures, we cannot withstand the constant attacks that come against us from this world.
The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). This world is enemy territory for Christians. What chances do soldiers have on the battlefield without weapons?
The third reason is that the Word of God helps us go against the flow of the world.
Hebrews 2:1 says, “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”
The word translated for slip here, in Greek, is flow by. It gives us the picture of being in a river with a strong current.
If we don’t have a way to go against the flow of the world, we do what the rest of the world does. The media, the education system, and everyday conversations all go against God’s truth. We used to walk according to the course of this world (Ephesians 2:2), but God delivered us out of it through the Gospel.
The Word was God’s way of calling us from the wrong course to the right one. It is also the way for us to stay on the narrow path. We need the strength we get from God’s Word to withstand the constant push the world applies on us and walk on the way of righteousness.
The fourth reason to read the Bible is that it shows us how to live and walk as children of God.
God created us, and He knows perfectly how we work. In His caring love for us, He did not leave us in the shadow about human nature. He gave us the manual that tells us what and how we must do to function correctly.
We can try to find out on our own which way to go and how to accomplish our goals, but that trying inevitably fails. God’s ways are as high above our human ways as the heavens are higher than the earth. (Isaiah 55:8-9.) We cannot figure it out by ourselves.
But reading God’s word helps us walk in God’s heavenly way. Isn’t that marvelous?
The fifth reason to read the Bible is that it shows us how to fulfill our God-planned destiny in this life.
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16–17).
By reading God’s Word, we can become the right kind of people who do the right things. Through the Word, we can become God’s best, “be perfect,” and do everything in the way that pleases Him, “thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
Wow! I find this very attractive. Do you?
So, there is the way to go. Let’s read the Bible and do what God tells us in it. In time, we will reap the fruit in abundance.
