Got Bible Reading?

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ps%20119:18&version=NIV1984

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+24:7&version=NIV1984

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Timothy+4:13&version=NIV1984

This morning, before I left for the office, my 2 grandsons asked me if I would read them a couple stories from the Bible.  Would I?  Of course, I would!  So I grabbed our children’s picture Bible.  We have been reading through it for the past 8 months or so.  We are about three-quarters of the way through.  So I read them 4 stories.  They all happened to be parables that Jesus told.  Then I mentioned what the parables mean.  As best as I could to a 5 & 3-year-old.  The fact is that I love reading to my grandchildren.  I firmly believe that being read to is a precursor to becoming a reader.  And reading the Bible to children or grandchildren is a precursor to them reading it.

Yesterday I posted about reading and its advantages.  So, if reading is a very worthwhile activity and the Bible is the greatest book ever written, then reading the Bible would have to rank right near the top of things we could do with our time, right?  I would say so!  The Bible is a supernatural book.  It’s author is God.  The words are the words of God.  As such, the Bible is the greatest book that anyone can own.  And reading the Bible is one of the best activities we can engage in.  So what are the advantages of reading the Bible?

1 - Informational.  After 40+ years of reading the Bible I am still trying to get my mind around this.  In the Bible we have the very thoughts of God!  Isn’t that insane?  Scholars treasure diaries of great people from the past.  They pore over their pages, trying to understand the person.  And his or her times.  Want to know what God is like?  Who He is?  What He thinks about a particular subject?  What His desires are?  Read the Bible.  It’s right there for us to see.  A veritable treasure trove of information and insight on God.  And the ways of God.

2 - Recreational.  The Bible has a little of something for everyone.  Biography.  History.  Romance.  Drama.  Wisdom.  Poetry.  Letters.  It really does have a wide appeal.  Plus there is the fact of being able to look at life from God’s perspective.

3 - Relational.  There are hundreds of promises found in the Bible.  From God.  To us.  Promises to give us such things as courage.  Hope.  Strength.  Comfort.  And a host of other things we desperately need.  Then there is the fact that the Bible is the story of God great love for us.  A love that motivated Him to send His Son to die on the cross so that we could be redeemed.  Now that is love!

4 - Inspirational.  Who can not be inspired by the story of the teenaged David triumphing over the giant Goliath?  The Israelites successfully conquering Jericho by marching around it for 7 days and shouting?  Or Elijah calling fire down from Heaven to consume his sacrifice on Mt Carmel?  There are times when reading the Bible inspires us to step out in faith and trust God for great things.

5 - Transformational.  Fact = reading the Bible changes lives.  Our lives.  And the lives of others.  How many people have come into the Kingdom of God by reading the Bible is anyone’s guess.  Reading the Bible changes us suddenly as we put our faith in Jesus as our Savior.  And it changes us slowly, day after day, month after month, year after year, as its words take root in our heart.

It should come as no surprise that Jesus was a reader of Scripture.  In Luke 4, when He came back to His hometown of Nazareth, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath.  And He read from the scroll of Isaiah.  Many times Jesus questioned the Scribes and Pharisees with the phrase, ‘Have you not read...?”  Indeed, Jesus was a reader of Scripture.

So, in all of the reading that we do, let us remember that the most important book to read is the Bible.  There is no other book like it.  There is no other book that will have as great an impact on us.  There is no other book that can speak to us in the totality of life.

So read your Bible.  Enjoy it.  Soak it up.  Most of all, allow it to transform you!

Lord, I thank you for Your Word.  How it has spoken to me over the years.  Challenged me.  Inspired me.  Strengthened me.  Comforted me.  Transformed me.  In the midst of all my reading, let me not neglect Your Word.  In fact, may I give it priority in my life.  As I do so, continue to help it mold me into the person You created me to be.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.