The bible, we often do not consider it a required accessory of a christian except when attending church, it is one of those dusty books on the shelf. Some of us attend church without it. When instructed by the discipler that we should always read the bible we often find it difficult to obey. Often it is because we consider many parts as stories on pages of a book, skim through, become bored. Other times, we completely forget to read it. It feels laborious because we do not know its purpose. When the purpose of a thing is undefined abuse is inevitable. Personally, I realized when I am in spiritual mode – maybe in the place of prayers, praising, fasting or meditating the Spirit of God always brings to remembrance part of the bible that I have read to instruct me, strengthen the reasons for prayer petitions and sometimes a bible verse may be an answer to prayers.
The bible is a past, present and future book. It is past because it contains past stories of God’s interaction with people. It is present because it is applicable to now. It is future because it is prophetic in nature. We have knowledge on how to relate with God based on his attributes which he demonstrated in the past – we know God gets angry, we know he is merciful, we know he speaks, we know he gets jealous, we know he loves companionship etc. It contains the recipe for man’s survival now; the voice of God written down which can be used to navigate the affairs of life (Deut 8:3, 2 Peter 1:20). It is an ordinary but powerful book when the spirit of God breathes on it; it contains promises which when wield by the spirit of God commands blessings. It helps build up the voice and life of God in us; the more we read it shapes our consciences.
Therefore, It is important for us to be keen on reading the bible. Here are 6 points that I think might help:
- Ask the Holy Spirit for help – The holy spirit breathes life to the words on the page of the book. He is the author of the book (2 Peter 1:20-21) and he alone understands better the intent of the word and how it is supposed to be applied to you.
- Take the Bible as Medication – to always read the bible when you feel uninterested, assume you are spiritually sick and the only medication for that is the Word of God in the Bible. Most medications feels bitter in the mouth but they always perform their function when swallowed. The same is the Bible, it may feel bored when reading it but read it anyways it will perform its function in the future.
- Study to Show Approval by God – study to show yourself approved to God not unto men. Studying the bible this way allows God to be involved in the study and devoid of the opinion of men.
- Read Christian Books – christian books often contains application of the bible which helps to deepen our understanding of the bible.
- Meditation – read it, churn it in your thoughts until your spirit man syncs with the spirit-life bursting out of the book. This may take several hours in the day but it is one of the ways Rhema comes from the bible.
- Read it daily – If we eat daily then we should read the bible daily.
