Do you read the Bible? I mean do you really read and study God’s Word as though it were written directly to you from a loving Heavenly Father who wants to encourage you and give to you the direction you need to have a full and meaningful life? Research tells us that the average evangelical Christian spends less than two minutes per day in Bible study. If this statistic is accurate, and I sadly suspect it is, I doubt that the average Christian picks up his or her Bible to read one or two verses each day and then puts it down after two minutes. It probably means that they read it about once a week for ten to fifteen minutes. At least that makes more sense to me.
Thinking about it, doesn’t this statistic reflect the way we feel about God? Look at it this way. When someone I care about gives me a letter, note, card, or even a text; I will save it and read it carefully many times. As I read it over and over I am not only trying to get every nuance of meaning from it, but I am thinking of the relationship we have each time I pick it up. Reading a letter from someone can be a very intimate experience. While most of our messages these days are electronic, our grandparents actually exchanged hand-written letters. Go through the attic of the widow of a WWII veteran and you will most certainly find a box full of love letters that are tattered and torn from the dozens of times each one has been opened and read.
In the same way, the Bible, God’s love letter to us, should be worn and tattered from the many times we have opened it and read its beautiful message of love and life. Now I know that some of the passages are difficult to understand for the novice reader. However, much of the Bible is a powerful expression of God’s unending love and sound advice given for the benefit of us, His children. By reading the Bible regularly, we not only learn more of the ways of God, but we actually learn more of the heart of God. We grow more and more intimate with our Heavenly Father every time we spend time in His Word.
So, don’t be a statistic. Find your Bible and start wearing it out today. Start by reading a Psalm and a chapter of John’s gospel every day. Cherish it. Let God speak to your heart through it. The blessing will be yours!
“Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105
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