All Christian leaders urge their congregations to read the Bible everyday but most people don't. Most people don't open their Bible until the sermon starts. Or they will read a few psalms then pray as a daily devotion. In fact, some of my church-friends have said that reading the Bible beats insomnia every time. It's as if every fibre of our being doesn't want us to read this book. The flesh and spirit are battling for your attention. The flesh wants you to sleep and the spirit wants to be fed by God's Word. The flesh usually wins this battle unless we are very determined. Hearing the Word and reading passages in church are not enough. Reading the entire chapter that a sermon passage comes from is not enough. You have to get the whole picture. The Bible must be read from cover to cover, beginning to end, start to finish. As God's people, we cannot know where we're going if we don't know where we've been.
Admittedly, the Old Testament is a tough read, especially the genealogy. A study Bible is a great resource to have on hand. We have multiple copies of the Zondervan Study Bible (King James Version). You get more then in-depth notes on passages. Before each book, there is a history note telling you of the political climate of the time. Knowing what was going then adds even more flavour and meaning to the text. This is important especially for the proselytes because the Word of God is life. Jesus Christ is the embodiment of God's Word and knowing the Word helps us to know Him.
The Bible is the foundation of our faith. It is the source of our history, divine doctrine, traditions, instructions and the plan for our Christian lifestyle. It is all laid out for us to take in. When you read the Bible, the Holy Spirit will reveal God's intentions for you. God will speak to you and show His purpose for your life. No offense, but the Holy Spirit will speak to you in a clearer voice than any from the pulpit. By not making the effort to read your Bible, you're ignoring a huge part of your faith and the consequences are far reaching.
New converts are always eager to share what God revealed to them in a church service with their social circle. There is nothing wrong with that but it's not like the early days of Christianity. There was no New Testament and copies of the Torah (Old Testament) were kept in the synagogues. So the apostles didn't have any books to support their sermons. They were preaching under the direction of the Holy Spirit and winning souls for Christ. In this day and age, it is a far different story. Bibles are available everywhere in printed and electronic forms for little or no money. There are books, blogs, videos, seminars, conferences and degrees on Bible teachings. If we're basing our life on what is written in this book, the very least we can try to do is read it. Non-Believers are reading it, so why aren't we?
Oh yes, there are unsaved people reading the Bible and often out of sheer curiosity. We Believers must be ready to field questions and even defend God's actions in the Old Testament. After the Israelites' exodus from Egypt, there were hostile actions against nations occupying the Promised Land. For example the destruction of a city called Ai. Joshua Chapter 8:23 to 28 (KJV) says:
"23 But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua. 24 And it came to pass when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness where they pursued them, and when they all had fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword. 25 So it was that all who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand—all the people of Ai. 26 For Joshua did not draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. 27 Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as booty for themselves, according to the word of the LORD which He had commanded Joshua. 28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, a desolation to this day."
God instructed His people to wipe out the occupants of whole cities. We have to know about those battles, why they happened and what they meant. A Believer can't effectively fly the flag for the faith but be almost clueless about its history? This is one of the reasons atheists are laughing at us. The common misconception is that are naive, backward thinking, prudish and uninformed. This couldn't be further from the truth. However, if they know more about God's Word than we do, Hosea Chapter 4:6 (KJV) comes into play:
"6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children."
Remember the little children's words, "Read your Bible, pray every day and you'll grow, grow, grow!"
No comments:
Post a Comment