January 22
“The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true, they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Thy servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” Psalm 19:7-11
Howard and William Hendricks in Living By the Book capture six common reasons people give for not spending time in God’s Word. These are paraphrased here:
(1) “The Bible is not relevant to my life; it doesn’t apply to my life today.”
(2) “I don’t know how to study the Bible.”
(3) “I’m just a lay person. I can’t understand the Bible like my pastor who has training.”
(4) “I don’t have time.”
(5) “I have my doubts about the Bible (I don’t believe in the miracles or prophecies, etc.)”
(6) “It isn’t interesting to me.”
Concerning the first excuse, since the Bible discusses the most important matters of the heart, our relationship with God, and our relationship with others, how could it not be relevant? Because it alone has the words of eternal and abundant life, one could argue that it is more relevant that anything else we could give our attention to. I can’t help but think that anyone who says the Bible isn’t relevant is either (a) very worldly minded and not in tune with the things of God at all or (b) hasn’t read the scriptures to really know what they say. The closer we are to God, the more relevant, even crucial, the scriptures become to our everyday functioning. We can’t abide in Christ if we are not abiding in His Word. And we can’t know the truth and be free from our sin if we are not abiding in His Word. Dwelling in, spending time in, meditating on, memorizing, reading, and studying God’s Word is essential to overcoming temptation.
The second reason given, not knowing how to study the Bible, was hopefully addressed in a small way a few days ago with my suggested ten step process. It really is not difficult if you have a desire to learn. Living By the Book is a great resource for this. But just a Bible and a pen and paper, writing down observations and comparing one scripture to another is all you really need. Just spend time doing more than just reading. Make observations. Write down who the writer was talking to. Write down what questions he is trying to answer. Think it through in detail. Grapple with the issues the writers and the audience were grappling with. Ask questions. Look for answers. Interact with the scriptures. You don’t have to have a lot of tools and skills to do this. Just desire and an inquisitive mind! God will reward you for such efforts.
In the following days we will examine more reasons people give for not spending time in the Word of God.