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 Religion
Do I Have To Read My Bible Every day? By Pastor Philip Howle web posted January 6, 2009 RELIGION – I have written in the front of almost every Bible I own a quote from Augustine that says "This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book." Think about that for a moment. The claim is that reading the Bible and seeking to live out the principles and wisdom contained inside will keep you from sin. I know from my own life that a dusty Bibles always leads to dirty living. You see I have heard it said that you are either in the Word and the Word is conforming you to the image of Jesus Christ, or you are in the world and the world is squeezing you into its mold. Which do you want to become: More like Jesus or more like the troubled world that we are confronted with every day? One of these things is happening in your life right now! Now the great tragedy that I, as a preacher see among Christians today is there are too many people are under the Word of God, (being taught) but not in it for themselves. Most church goers today are content to be taught, but not willing to study. This reminds me of the birth of my son Luke, who was five weeks premature. He was a lazy little thing! He would not nurse; it was just too much work. So we had to feed him with a medicine dropper. For Luke sucking meant required work and the medicine dropper was easy. Now there's no question that you need to sit under the teaching of God's Word at a Bible believing Church. But that ought to be a stimulus—not a substitute—for getting into it for yourself. Hearing God’s Word preached should make you desire to discover and experience the powerful truths of Scripture for yourself. I enjoy mountain biking. From time to time I go on YouTube and I watch guys doing amazing things on bikes! I see how fast and how far they ride and it inspires me to ride harder and strive to become a better rider. This is how good preaching should affect you. The sad fact is that even though the Bible remains the most sold book in the world, it's also one of the most neglected ones. The Barna Research Group of Glendale California reports that in a typical week, only 10 percent of Americans read the Bible every day. I find this a little high honestly. Another survey found that 82 percent of Americans believe that the Bible is either the literal or "inspired" Word of God. That means that a huge majority of people say to themselves “I believe that God inspired the Scriptures, but I don’t care enough to even read them” The survey also reported that more than half said they read the Bible at least monthly. Yet half couldn't name even one of the four gospels. And fewer than half knew who delivered the Sermon on the Mount. To many people park their Bible. This is a huge pet-peeve of mine. I look for Bibles "parked" in the rear window of someone's car. I look for it in parking lots, especially the Antioch Baptist Church parking lot! It is really common; a guy will come out of church, hop into his car, toss his Bible in the back, and leave it there until the next Sunday. That's quite a statement of the value he places on God's Word. I also look at the names of people who leave Bibles at church, and then I watch and see how long it takes them to notice their Bible is here. Now I should not judge. They may have other Bibles at home. My sad point is that the Bible is owned, read on rare occasions, even taken to church—but not studied daily at home. Imagine this hypothetical situation. You have been asked to sift several tons of sand from one pile to another by spooning it through a hand-held strainer or sieve. Without a doubt, you would find such a task boring. But suppose you were told that you would probably catch a gold nugget or a diamond at least every 15 minutes, and you could keep whatever treasure you found. Would that still be boring? With a little effort and little time, such riches can be found all the time in God's Word. The Psalmist knew this as he wrote in Psalm 119:72 “The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.” Now with full and open access to such a great spiritual treasure, why neglect it any longer? I pray each of you commit to getting into God’s word daily! Listen to the plea of Donald Whitney “Surely we only have to be realistic and honest with ourselves to know how regularly we need to turn to the Bible. How often do we face problems, temptations, and pressure? Every day! Then how often do we need instruction, guidance and greater encouragement? Every day! To catch all these felt needs up into an even greater issue, how often do we need to see God’s face, hear His voice, feel His touch, know His power? The answer to all these questions is the same: every day! (Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, p. 33) I’ll be praying for you what Paul prayed on behalf of Ephesian church in Eph 1:18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints.” © Copyright 2010
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