Five Important Things About Bible Reading

1. Just do it.
We want to make this more complicated than it is. Every day you wake up and you have a choice. Read the Bible. Don't read the Bible. There will always be a reason not to do it. ALWAYS. If you want God's Word to nourish your soul, make the choice to read the Bible. Remember in Matthew 4:4, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy when he says, "For it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." God's Word is where the Christ-follower finds daily nourishment. It is not enough to read the Bible in church on Sunday and expect it to sustain you until the next week. God's word is meant to be consumed daily! So just do it!

2. Don't approach it the wrong way.
Far too often we approach God's Word with a "what's in it for me?" mentality. We approach Scripture with our burdens and our baggage and hope to find answers to the big questions in our minds. We ask ourselves, "What does this passage say to me?" because we don't remember that the Bible is God's Word to all mankind for all of eternity. We are only interested in ourselves. While it is important to apply God's Word to our own lives, we should first approach it with a lens that is focused on Him and not ourselves because when we grow to know him more, everything else becomes clearer.

3. Approach it the right way.
When we take the focus off of ourselves, we begin to see that God's Word is about so much more than ourselves. I can take a passage like John 3:16 and instead of thinking about how much God loves ME, I can focus on the attributes of HIM that are found in this verse. HE is full of love. HE gave his Son. HIS only son! Whoever believs in HIM will have eternal life. Do you see that it's absolutely, positively not about me? One of the reasons He gave us His Word is because He wants us to know Him more!

4. Use the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Bible is unlike any other book ever written because as a believer, when you open the Bible, you are aided by the Holy Spirit. No other book has that kind of power source. If there is a passage you don't understand, just ask Him to give you wisdom to understand it and He will do it! The Holy Spirit enlightens us to the truth of God's Word. The Word of God is living and active! Read it!

5. Don't build a relationship by proxy. I didn't fall in love with Chris through someone else. I fell in love with him when he pursued me and I responded. We spent time together, talked, prayed, laughed, cried, shared, and waited together. Our relationship would not be strong today if one of us had been mostly absent from our marriage. Unfortunately, many "Christians" seem to think that going to church is good enough. Listening to podcasts, completing Bible study books, attending church, listening to sermons, reading Christian books- all of these are good things, but none will develop a relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. When you read God's Word, do it with every intention of growing to know Him more.  He wants to be known by you!