What’s so important about reading the Bible?
This question has soooo many answers. Are you struggling in life? Do you KNOW who God is? Do you need to defend what you believe? Do you know WHAT to believe and WHY you believe it? Do you have questions about how you live a Christian life…does God always hear my prayers? Why does it seem like He doesn’t hear or answer me? How do I handle situations in life, is there really a right and a wrong?
The answer to ALL those questions is in the Bible! One must read the Bible to know God, what you believe, how to live life, where it is in the Bible and how it can affect my life. Not reading the Bible is like trying to have a relationship with someone without ever really trying to know them. Our heavenly Father WANTS to have a relationship with us. James 4:8 (CSB) “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” Do we really seek a relationship with Him or are we keeping our distance while wanting His blessings? Truly we are spoiled little children at times and want God to do all the work in our relationship, but that’s NOT how it works.
Our relationship with our Father must be sought after like the best bargain for shoppers, the top score for gamers, the best recipe for bakers, or anything we spend most of our time doing. We know from Deuteronomy 4:29 (CSB) “But from there, you will search for the LORD your God, and you will find Him when you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul.” This has been since the OT times. In Jeremiah 29:11-13 (CSB), the Lord tells them, “For I know the plans I have for you” – this is the Lord’s declaration – “plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. You will call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” WOW!!! He has a plan, He CHOOSES us, and DESIRES intentional action from us for this relationship. We are not called to be puppets in His plan but should be a willing participant.
Our relationship with our Creator, the one who “…formed us in our mother’s womb…”, our Sustainer, our Abba Father, MUST be a priority for us. We eat more than once or twice week. Let’s be honest: we feel we are being deprived if we don’t eat THREE times a DAY. Why do we expect to know our Father and have a thriving relationship or life on snacks of Bible reading on Sundays and other times scattered sporadically throughout the week? We must Matthew 6:33 (CSB) says “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” He will take care of us as we rest and rely on Him.
The Bible speaks to many different topics of daily living. We’re not to worry, it’s wrong and a sin. How do I know…Matthew 6:25, 34 (CSB) “Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” I can have hope and peace because the GOD of the UNIVERSE said all I need will be provided as I seek Him and His kingdom.
There are a lot of interesting things to read about in the Bible: like a six-fingered man, Behemoth (dinosaurs before they were called dinosaurs), a talking donkey, and so MANY more things we can learn and NEED to learn from the Bible, but that’s for another day!!! You can, most importantly, KNOW the God of the universe in a deeply intimate way through the book He wrote for us, the Bible. For more information on how God wrote the Bible, check out some of our other posts.
Until the next time we see you here at CultivatingFaith.org, God Bless! #CultivatingFaithOrg
Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash