Why Read the Bible - Part 2

From Duty to Delight

Let me first say that if you have any desire whatsoever to read the Bible right now, do that instead of reading this blog post, since my prayer here is that God would give you a desire for His Word... but if you lack desire, may these words be of encouragement:

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away."

I have come to a realization over the years that, whether we know it or not, we are in a battle for our desires. Test what I'm about to say with scripture, but I would contend that worldly passions which diminish God are at war with passions that glorify God. And I plead with you to not be deceived by the things that war over your desire, for they are pulling you away from the source of life, the Word of God. From the moment you wake up to the moment you lie down-- newspaper, television, food, movies, music, video games, hobbies, sports, dreams, ambitions, money... all of these demand your heart's attention. But they will not satisfy. Pray, pray, pray for God to give you a desire for that which is more precious than all of these. Pray unceasingly (2 Thessalonians. 5:17) for a desire to know Him and to read the God-breathed scriptures (2 Tim. 3:16-17). There is so much more, but this is the beginning. This is the constant battle for our desires.

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." (1 John 2:15-17)

Have the courage to pray to God and ask Him to make clear to you the things that are stealing your desires. Maybe even ask a brother in Christ if they see something you don't (this takes a lot of courage). Then ask God what He wants you to do, praying and searching His Word for answers...

Make the most of every opportunity, and sink your roots deep. May you be like that tree planted by the streams of water, yielding fruit and never withering.

The Marks of Manhood

Al Mohler gives the 13 marks of male maturity.

Why Read the Bible? - Part 1

Late last night, in honor of "Reformation Day", I sat down with my wife's family and watched the movie "Luther", which from all I can tell is a pretty accurate account of Dr. Martin Luther's role in reforming the Christian Church. It's the second time I've seen the movie, but the second viewing certainly hit home far more than the first.

I think the main reason for this is that I've read the Bible more in the past year than probably every other year of my life combined, and my love for the scriptures has seldom been as consistently high as it has in 2009. Yes, there's still books of the Bible I haven't read, but I have had an unprecedented desire to hunt for truth, to seek counsel and understanding from God, to be affected by His Word.

So when I watched "Luther", it really hit me to realize the cost Christians before us have paid for this book, that we might have the opportunity to read the Holy Scriptures for ourselves, to not have to depend on the interpretations of Priests who may not have even studied the Scriptures themselves, but to study the God-Breathed scriptures with my own eyes. Countless great men of faith gave their lives for this Book.

So what has happened in our time? What did men like Luther see and feel and know that we don't? Why do most Christians in America today own 5 Bibles and read none of them? Why do most Christians lack a strong Biblical understanding of what the Bible actually says about life issues? When we counsel one another, why is it not saturated with Scripture? Why do we not tremble with humility and reverence before the Word of God?

One possibility is that we are not truly a Christian. We must test ourselves:

"Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!" - 2 Cor 13:5

However, if we are truly saved by our Father-- that is if we have placed our faith and hope for salvation and life in Christ alone and not in ourselves-- then there must be other reasons why we don't devote ourselves to scripture the way we ought, and why our hearts don't yearn for it more than anything in this world.

So here's the point: I want to desire God's Word far more than I do now, and I want my brothers and sisters in Christ to love God's Word, too. For the next couple of weeks I'm going to dig into why it's important for us to read the Bible in hopes that not only my desire will grow, but that I would also be able to persuade and encourage many others to make Bible study a significant and passionate part of their lives.

Bible reading plans...

Here are several reading plans recommended by Justin Taylor.

Memorize ESV Passages via MP3

If you want to download and transfer passages of the ESV to an iPod (or any MP3 player), here's how.

HT: ESV Blog