Read God’s Word Often

Only 16% of church-goers read the Bible every day.

Only 32% read the Bible at least once a week.

Only 37% say that reading and studying the Bible

has made a significant difference in the way they live their lives*.

 

Why read the Bible? How about…

to learn about God’s special revelation of truth He wants us to know

to learn about God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ, and God the Spirit

to learn about creation and humanity

to learn about our purpose, why we exist

to learn about our sin separation from our Holy Creator God

to learn about God’s plan of redemption to solve our sin problem

to help you communicate the great news of Jesus Christ to others

to draw closer to God

to help you worship God

to help you live according to God’s will

to help you memorize portions of the Bible which will minister to you and others later

to remember & reinforce what you have already learned

for encouragement

for exhortation, to challenge yourself

to learn about God’s Heaven

to learn about God’s future plans for this earth

to learn about the spiritual enemies of God and how to have victory over them

to help renew your mind with what is God-honoring and praise-worthy

to help your thoughts be captive to obeying Christ

because Jesus said, “if you continue in my Word you are truly My disciples” (John 8:31)

to know the truth and the truth will set you free

to help you become who God created you to be

to help prepare you for God’s plans for your life

to help equip you for Christian ministry

to help you be a God-honoring steward with your life and the resources God has allowed you to manage

to help you develop a deeper hunger for God

to nourish your soul

to feed on the very words of God

to give you hope

to show you what is right and what is wrong

to receive spiritual conviction

to help you develop God-honoring wisdom and discernment

because the Word of God is life-transforming

because the Word of God is living and active

to help us identify false teaching

to reap blessings of joy

 

and on and on are the many good reasons to read the Word of God. And don’t just read it often and regularly; study it and apply it to your life regularly as well.

 

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 2 Tim. 3:16-17 ESV

This time of year is as good as any time of the year to make a commitment to spend time in God’s Word on a regular basis, like 5-7 days a week or even more. Don’t deceive yourself into thinking you don’t have time to read God’s Word or you can’t understand it or it is not relevant. If you don’t read well, then listen to the Bible on audio. If you have questions, then ask God in prayer and ask someone familiar with God’s Word and do some research. It can be done and it should be done. Read God’s Word!

 

The Word of God; Learn It, Live It, Pray It, Proclaim It!

If you are looking for different Bible reading plans and schedules to follow then I recommend www.youversion.com (which I personally use and have their APP downloaded to my phone) which offers free online Bible access with several translations and they have a lot of reading plans.

 

What other God-honoring reasons are there to read God’s Word; other than what I have listed above?

 

Mike

 

*These statistics came from readthebibleforlife.com; Dec. 2011