Reading the Bible daily is essential to draw closer to God. It is impossible to know our Creator if we don’t know anything about Him.
2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV) All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.
Paul speaks about Scripture, he tells us it’s useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the person of God may be capable, equipped for every good work.
Psalm 1:1-2 (NIV) Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night.
Romans 12:1 (NLT) And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
We need to be renewing our minds, but how do we do it? By reading the Bible. The Bible is the Word of God presented to us. And it is a great place to look for answers and encouragement.
So often we ask, ‘what is God’s will for my life?’ The answer is right in the Bible. What we need to do is to read the Bible and allow the Holy Spirit to edify what we learn in our spirit, soul, and body. As this begins to happen, we can start changing the way we live to move more in line with God’s will for our lives.
Henry Blackaby once said – “God speaks through a variety of means. In the present God primarily speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church.”
If the Bible is supposed to be our handbook for holy living, why do so many believers neglect it? Understanding the Bible begins with reading it.
When we read the Bible, we must slow down and take time to understand what we’ve read actually mean. We must analyse, consider and look at those verses in context.
Isaiah 55:8-13 (NLT) “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands! Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the LORD’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”
The Bible was written by different people — statesmen, farmers, shepherds, peasants, musicians, poets and tax collectors. It was also written in different places. The Bible was written by Moses in the wilderness, Jeremiah in the dungeon, Luke while travelling, Paul while he was in prison, and John while in exile. This Bible was written in 13 different countries on three continents — Asia, Africa and Europe. And the Bible was written in three different languages — Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic.
Although the Bible consists of 66 books written over 1,500 years by 40 people in three different languages on three different continents, the story of Scripture provides amazing harmony. It is the truth that is reliable, accurate and enduring, and it’s a truth that is trustworthy.
If you want the divine truths that are contained in the Bible to really be able to change and transform you, then you will have to believe that the Bible in its entirety comes direct to us from God the Father through the Holy Spirit. If you do not, then the Bible will have little or no transforming effect on you and your life.