Reading the Bible
0 comments | Posted by Steven Layson on 05 Jul 2009 in From Steve's Study ::
Why then do so few Christians actually read it? I was reading some statistics the other day that suggested that 3 out of 5 Christians never read the Bible (or do so only occasionally), 1 out of 5 read it once or twice a week, while only 1 out of 5 read it most days. Now you know what they say about statistics, but from my own conversations with people in our church, these numbers sound about right.
Reading the Bible seems to be a bit like a good exercise program – something we know we should do, but never actually get around to doing it.
Why is this, I wonder? Some, I know have been put off from bad experiences in the past (struggling through Leviticus or Ezekiel or the like). Others feel the lack of time in their lives and can’t imagine fitting another thing in. For others, the thought of reading the Bible doesn’t even cross their dial.
The writer of Psalm 119 certainly didn’t have these problems. For him, God’s words are a “delight” (vs 16), the focus of his thoughts all day (vs 97) – they are “sweeter than honey” (vs 103).
How can we develop this kind of an attitude to the Scriptures? Certainly the more we look into God’s word, the more we will begin to hear God’s voice and indeed to delight in what he has to say to us. Perhaps one of the functions of our Bible Study groups could be to encourage and support one another as we seek to spend time focusing on what God has to say to us in the Bible. In fact a new study guide has been produced to help Bible Study groups do just that. Maybe your group could kick off next term thinking through this together.
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