Consider the absurdity of a group of friends who got together for a pickup game of football. One of them suddenly realised and announced that they had left the football behind, only for another to reply, with a wave of hand “forget the football, let’s get on with the game!”
Well, for some people, the question isn’t so much ‘how do I read the Bible?’ but why should I bother reading it at all? Perhaps the underlying thought behind that question is the perplexity of how a book from ages ago, originally written to people in different contexts, speaks to us now in the 21st Century. That thought poses a bigger question, and will be discussed in another post. For now, we’ll focus on the more fundamental question of the motivation for deferring to the Bible.
The Bible self-identifies as God’s Word, and the source of truth. It offers itself to faithful and diligent study for too numerous a reason than can be exhausted in a blog post.
Reading the Bible offers great spiritual benefit, by helping us grow our convictions, filling us with awe as we see God at work in our lives, and around us. It is the means by which God sanctifies us, and to live according to His pattern for our lives, we need to know His story and His plan, as revealed in His Word. Knowing His story shapes and renews our minds, equips us with a biblical worldview, and also informs our prayers.
The Word of God is life, so by it, we get to experience the richness of life that God Himself offers – what a privilege!
Since Christianity is a relationship, and not merely a religion, a Christian cannot be committed to Christ without being committed to his teaching. Developing a deep and abiding love for God is made possible through knowledge, which primarily comes to us through the Bible. Lacking in the wonder and joy of meeting the Lord in His Word, the Christian life ebbs into a joyless burden, laden with much pretence and hypocrisy.
Big Answers begging Questions
In a world where postmodern thinking is rife, the Bible offers answers to the age old questions of origin, as against rootlessness; meaning, as against pointlessness; morality, as against licentiousness; and destination, as against hopelessness.
Tying it all together, just as there exists no possibility of a football game without a football, so is there no true Christian life or experience without the Bible.
As believers who are desirous of pursuing a right relationship with God, we cannot afford to take our eyes off His word; after all, knowledge of His will wouldn’t happen outside of His Word. Are you keeping within earshot?
Thanks for reading!