Imagine you were standing in front of God, and he asked, “Hey, did you get a chance to read my book?” What would you say? “Cough, cough, well, I was really busy watching The Bachelor, ESPN, and The Office.”
According to research by The American Bible Society, 26 million Americans stopped reading their Bibles last year, which is terrible, because it also means that 26 million Americans stopped reaping the benefits of God’s word in their life.
Don’t let that be you. Instead, here are three powerful reasons you should be reading your Bible.
It’s given to us by God, not by man.
I guess it’s easy for some to have a carefree attitude toward the scriptures. That’s because they forget who wrote it.
We must remember that “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Christians don’t believe that some of the Bible is God’s inspired word. We believe it is all inspired by God.
“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:19-21)
The Scriptures point us to Jesus.
The Bible is not a book just for book’s sake. It’s not some piece of fiction we toss out when we are done. It takes us somewhere– to Jesus.
Jesus said, “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” (John 5:39-40)
When you read your Bible, and I hope you do, think of it like God’s giant arrow pointing us to his son Jesus, and ultimately to himself.
God tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1, 14)
It changes you from the inside out.
It must start in your heart if you’re going to experience a good, positive change in your life. And that’s exactly where God’s word begins its work.
God uses his word to penetrate the deep areas of our life and heart and remove what doesn’t belong there. The Bible says, “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.” (Hebrews 4:12)
God doesn’t like sharing your heart. Especially with your sin and destructive behavior, and thoughts. That’s why we need his word. It removes the junk that never belonged there.
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