“... man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Deut. 8:3
I often need to pull myself up and revalue my motives when reading Scripture. The reason? I can begin reading from of self-imposed religious duty, or I can begin reading without giving the Holy Scriptures the due reverence they rightfully deserve. If left unchecked I can miss, the most important purpose of God’s Holy Word!
When I approach the bible for my daily reading or study I have learnt that I need to humble myself and pray that God would speak to me through it. Otherwise I have found that those precious timeless truths that God has indelibly inscripturated, can be lost on me and I am untouched by the power of God’s Word. It can then become to me a ‘boring’ book! If this unhealthy and crass way of reading Scripture is continued I also miss the continuity, the ‘oneness’ and whole purpose of Gods story as recorded in the bible.
Surely we all want the God to “touch” us, to speak to us through His Word - right?
Well, firstly let us all understand that God has chosen to speak to us though His living powerful Word. Get that into our hearts and minds is a must for affective reading. And also value this as you begin to read - Jesus Christ is the bible’s grand subject, which has our eternal good at the heart of its message, which is all about bringing ultimate glory to God. The ‘oneness’ of God’s whole message to us is giving witness of His creatorial and sustaining power over the whole universe “through Christ the Redeemer of sinful man. It represents one continuous story - that of human redemption.’ [Merrill Unger - Grace Quotes]
Let us read the Scriptures with understand, humility and reverence, and the rewards will be eternal.