You must learn to see reading your Bible not as a box to be ticked on your to-do list, but rather from a deep sense of privilege.
Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV)
In the world today, there is a category of literature referred to as the classics. These are books that have endured time, shape people and transform culture. These books are studied diligently and thoroughly analysed.
One striking thing is that the writers of these books draw inspiration from their lives and their observations of the world, both finite sources. Yet, these books have had tremendous impacts on society.
Now, consider the Bible, the Word of God, inspired by God Himself, whose origin is eternal, infinite and unending. What you would actually expect is that greater honour and reverence are associated with the Bible, but many treat the Word of God as common and ordinary, and this should not be the case.
Hebrews 4:12
New King James Version
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The word of God is alive and powerful, meaning that it is not only living, but also capable of causing life. More than the two-edged sword, the word of God reaches past the surface. There is no part of your life that lies beyond the searching reach of God's word. Even down to your inner motives and hidden intentions or thoughts, the word of God is efficacious enough to reveal.
What this truth should cause in you is more reverence for the word of God, where you stop seeing it only as a trove of regulations and information, but for the transformation it should cause in you. With this in mind, you can take on a different approach to Bible reading and Bible study. One that is not borne from just a sense of duty, but from a place of delight.
The writer of Psalm 119 understood this so much that he could meditate on the excellencies of God's word.
Psalm 119:11,15
New King James Version
11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against you.
15 This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life.
The Psalmist sees the word of God God as refuge from sin and in the face of difficult times and trials, he finds comfort in the word of God.
Psalm 119:16,18
New King James Version
16 I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law.
The Psalmist speaks of God's Word as the source of his delight and wonder. You must have this same disposition towards the Word of God. You must learn to see reading your Bible not as a box to be ticked on your to-do list, but rather from a deep sense of privilege. From a place of awe and reverence.
Joshua 1:8
New King James Version
8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Before your day begins, meditate on a verse or a chapter, and as you lay to sleep, you do the same thing. When you begin to approach Scripture this way, your eyes will become opened to all that God has set before you. A verse that you had simply memorised in the children's church without properly understanding it becomes clearer.
The key takeaway from today's devotional is simple: to experience the fullness of the Bible, you must firstly see it as what it is 一 The living word of God.
Prayer
Dear Father, help me read your word diligently, let it pierce deep into my heart and correct every error. Let every study be marked by significant growth in my devotion to You.
