Dale Ridge church of Christ

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2: 15 KJV)

Are you a daily Bible reader?  How much time do you spend each day reading the Bible? An hour?  Half hour?  Five minutes?  A minute?  No time?

Woodrow Wilson once said, “A man has deprived himself of the best there is in the world who has deprived himself of a knowledge of the Bible.”  A man who does not read God’s Word has no advantage over the man who cannot read.

“The unfolding (opening) of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119: 130) A closed Bible may have beautifully tooled morocco leather.  It may be printed on the finest India paper.  The type may have been set by a master printer and the binding fashioned by an artist—but it must be opened for the “light” and the remedy must be applied to our life.

If God is a reality, and the soul is a reality, and you are an immortal being, what are you doing with your Bible closed?

The American Bible Society offers the following suggestions for Bible study:

(1).  Read slowly and prayerfully. “Not snap-shots but time exposures” should be the rule.

(2).  Read keenly and thoughtfully. Imagine the scenes.

(3).  Read obediently.  Search for personal messages each day.

(4). Your inner response to God’s message is vital.  When He condemns, bow penitently;  when He offers help, place your hope on that assurance; when He guides, follow.

(5). Underline passages which strike fire. Copy them and repeat them aloud.

(6). Memorize one key verse daily.

(7). Set aside and keep a definite daily time for reading.

(8). Make it a habit; become a daily reader of the Bible.

Number eight above holds the key to regular, daily Bible reading and meditation. Make it a habit!  Now, we are not talking about a quick glance at a verse or two so that our Bible reading for that day can be checked off.  As Vance Havner once said, “Speed-reading might be a good thing, but it was never meant for the Bible.  It takes calm, thoughtful, prayerful meditation on the Word to extract its deepest nourishment.”

Habits are to the soul what the veins and arteries are to blood, the courses in which it moves. Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit.  Good habits are to the soul what muscles are to the physical body: the more you use them, the stronger they become.

I think we would all agree that good habits are just as easy to form as the bad ones.  We probably would also agree, unfortunately, that the good habits are much easier to give up than the bad ones. Life is busy, hectic and demanding!  Things pile up! Wheels run off! Just skip a day, then two, then a week. The first thing you know, you are completely out of the habit of studying your Bible each day.  You are not a bad, evil person, but your daily habit has become the victim of neglect.  That neglect will cause you to suffer spiritually, and your life will be deprived of some wonderful spiritual blessings. 

I don’t know of a better habit than daily Bible study to insure our continual spiritual growth and development.  Our spiritual growth will be in direct proportion to our assimilation of the Word of God.

Habits can be the stones that we use in building a strong and wonderful life.  The habit of daily Bible study is at the very foundation of that life.  A good habit!  Make it your habit!

                                                                                          Charles Cash 

Filed under: Charles Cash, Devotional on November 7th, 2011 |
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