Why Daily Bible Reading Matters
Why is it important to do anything consistently on a daily basis? Most of the time you do something regularly in order to achieve a goal or develop a skill.
Daily Bible reading is really no different. Developing our beliefs in the Christian life requires consistently meeting with God and spending time with Him in his word.
What in the world does that mean? Christians use the strangest phrases.
The bible is the whole of authoritative Christian texts brought together over many centuries into one volume. Studying how the bible came together is quite a task, but the fact of the matter is that the bible itself affirms itself as authoritative and good for our encouragement and growth.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says this
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…”
This passage alone should give us pause to consider the powerful impact the scripture could have on our lives.
It’s God-breathed. In other words it’s ultimately inspired and organized by God. This process is describe by theologians as, “verbal plenary inspiration.”
Second Peter has a good example of this.
2 Peter 1:21 says
“For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
Man, that should not led us to doubt but to be in awe of God’s work even through broken vessels such as man.
Think of 2 Corinthians 4:7
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”
Our Mind Learns In Funny Ways
One of the things I remember the most about first meeting my wife was how she described her experience of watching a movie. She works it over and over again in her mind for days… weeks even, and it affects her. That was one of the reasons we didn’t spend a lot of time watching movies when we first met.
Sadly, I had never thought that critically before about how a movie would affect me, but once I took notice of this, I realized all the movies that I had watched and how they impacted my views and thoughts slowly over time.
Even to this day, the childhood movie songs I watched are lodged in my mind on repeat and even come to mind and the slightest mention of a similar phrase.
Now consider this for yourself. What sort of things do you listen to or ingest on a daily basis that have an affect on your thoughts.
Bring that to the importance of ingesting the word of God on a daily basis and multiply that over your life.
Are you getting the picture yet?
You Need To Put In The Reps
Spending quality time every day in the word of God can radically changer your life because that sort of repeat in your heart and mind will transform your thinking daily.
We are talking about replacing those silly movies with thoughts and feelings from God. So take stock of your capacity to replace entertainment with the very heartbeat of God for your life every day.
He literally wrote history in a book for us to grow and learn about Him and delight in His love for us. He is working it all together for your good.
Let it take shape in your heart and let his voice whisper His joys over you every day and you’ll see your heart transform for the better.
One tip I have is to search your heart for any shame or guilt you might feel when it comes to reading God’s word.
Shame and guilt are from the enemy and are his schemes to keep you from the beautiful life you could live walking with the Father as you were intended.
Don’t let religious expectations or a check list keep you from the joys of the journey of discovering His heart for you.
Take a moment and breathe that truth in and know that you have a Father who will meet you with love right where you are. He is longing for you to see Him for the tender and gentle Father that he is.
God bless and I hope no matter where you are in your journey you will sit with the Lord today.