“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”— John 8:31-32

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Should we read the Bible every day?

Confession time…

I am not a reader. In theory, I love to read because I truly loooove to learn. In reality, I am an audiobook person. I listen to more audiobooks and podcasts than any one person should.

But there is one book that I have to read. I can’t just listen. I have to read. Something otherworldly happens when I read it. Something special that I can’t totally put into words.

Have you ever seen the movie, Book of Eli? Denzel Washington’s character is living in a crazy, apocalyptic world. Everything is a mess and people are evil. Everyone, the bad guys are all after this book Denzel’s character has. It is a book that changes everything. Of course, the bad guys want it because there is power in this book. This may be a bit of a spoiler alert, but can you guess what book he has?

When countries fall, go into a communist or dictatorship, do you know what one of the first things they outlaw?

The Bible

You see, this is no ordinary book. This book transforms lives, civilizations, minds- this book introduces us to God.

It doesn’t get much bigger than that!

Today we are talking about developing a daily practice of reading the word of God. Why should we? What is in there we don’t already know and what difference will reading the Bible make?

These are all good questions.

Let’s answer them!

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“ Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

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5 Reasons Why you Should Read the Bible Every Day

1) If we want to know God, we have to read the Bible. period.

I can not tell you why the Bible is the only book I can sit down and read, but it is. I have to read the words. I want to know what happens next, what it says about God, and what it says about us. There is something amazing about reading words that were truly God-breathed and written by men God chose. Their stories and His grace. What I do know is there is no better way, no other way to get to know and understand who God is than to read the only document on this Earth that is from Him. Think about that! We have a book from GOD. It is how we learn about Him, the creator of this universe- the Alpha and the Omega, the sovereign Lord of all. There is literally no other way to get to know His character and His love for us. How blessed are we that we have something that can open that up to us?

2) God’s Words Feed us.

I was sitting at my good friend’s house the other morning. This friend is my God friend. She is the friend that helps me to lean on God more and more every day. She was so wonderful to open up her house Friday mornings to me to do a bible study with me. When I say open her house, I mean it. It was awesome- homeschool kids and breakfast, coffee, family, it was great. Her son was having a morning. He and his sister were supposed to be doing bible time together, but were just laughing and goofing off. Being kids.

But my sweet friend said something that has stuck with me. She told her sweet boy,

“You ate your breakfest, right? We have to feed our bodies so our stomachs are full and our bodies are healthy. Now what do you think happens to our soul when we don’t feed it everyday? We have to feed our souls the Word of God everyday.”

It builds us. It enriches us. It feeds us. Our souls are hungry without it and we may not even realize it.

3) The Bible Guides us.

Sometimes, people believe that the Bible is full of heroic stories of people who did everything right. Wrong. In fact, a good majority of the Bible is comprised of men and women who get it horribly wrong. They are sinners and make every mistake in the book, no pun intended. They are not heroes. They are people like you and me, trying and failing in so many ways. And through these stories, the grace of God is revealed. His desire for us to surrender to Him and live for Him, all of this is shown over and over in these life accounts of the chosen people of God.

Through this, we are guided to God’s will.

4) The Bible is Meditation Literature

“I will meditate on all Your work,
And on Your deeds with thanksgiving.
Your way, God, is holy;
What god is great like our God?”

We are not meant to get it all the first time ‘round. We are meant to meditate on His word. Mediation has taken on a very particular meaning in today’s world. Now, it tends to be synonymous with a set of techniques that are intended to encourage a heightened state of awareness and focused attention by clearing your mind.

But when mediation is applied to God’s Word, it is inviting you to dive in and think deeply on God’s truth.

“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” ~Joshua 1:8 NIV

I have said it before, the Bible is like an Ocean. You can wade around on the surface, but there is so much goodness packed into every verse that can take you on the deepest dives. Read it once. Read it twice. Read it a zillion times. Each time you do you will find more and more to change your life.

Meditate on it. It will do amazing things through you and in you.

5) It Brings us to Salvation, to Peace, to Truth.

I was on an airplane when I first started reading Romans. My son was next to me. He kept laughing at me because I could keep my excitement to myself. I kept yelling out, “Yes!” and “Exactly!” and “I love this!” I felt like for the first time in my life, I was reading the truth of God. Love, grace, and surrender. We are saved when we lay it all down at the foot of the cross and change our mindset to live for Him and His glory. When we stop living for ourselves everything changes. The truth of how to get there and how to shift our mindset to this place is in the pages of the Bible. Everything we need to know about salvation, mental peace, and truth is in its pages. We just have to open our hearts to read it.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

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Your Challenge for this Week and Beyond

Second confession….

I also hate to get up in the morning. Really. I love my nice warm bed.

But I was challenged recently by a fellow great podcaster (thank you Stef Gass) to start each morning with His word.

This is how I do it.

• Set up- 20 min- including getting up, potty time, brushing teeth, making a cup of coffee, getting comfy in my favorite chair in front of the fire, and making sure I have my Bible (super cute, purple, leather, pocket-size-so-it-can-fit-in-my-purse, ESV version), journal, and bible highlighters.

• Bible time- 20 min- Wonderful, uninterrupted 20 or so minutes before anybody needs me. PS- don’t bring your phone to the chair. It is just a giant distraction.

• Journal time- 10 min- get your thoughts out. What did you get out of this? What are your hopes and what is God’s will? Was this confusing? Was it amazing? Writing helps your brain to process it.

• Prayer time- 10 min- This whole thing might bring on some bigger prayers, so don’t cap your time here. You just learned about God and His will,. Now, talk to Him about it. Some of my closest prayers to God have been in this hour.

This is one hour of your day. One hour to learn about Him, His character, and His will. One hour to feed our soul. One hour where we will be guided. One hour where we can meditate and deep dive into truths we never imagined. One hour a day to bring us to His truth, our salvation, and Jesus’ peace.

You got this girl. Go read the Bible.

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