The Biggest Road Blocks to Daily Bible Times

 

Why do so many Christians supposedly not read their Bible regularly?

I have pondered this questions many times.  Mark and I have had discussions on it.  And I think that I have narrowed it down to six main reasons.

1. “The Bible is corrupted by man and manmade.  It’s not of God.”
2. “The Bible is no longer relevant, important, or needed anymore.”
3. “All we need to remember is Jesus is love and to love one another.”
4. People do not want to be convicted and change their lives.  (Happy Bubble!)
5. There is consistent sin in a person’s life.
6. They are not a true believer.

Those reasons above, they make me sad.  I feel sorry for those people.  To me, I cannot separate being a Christian and the Bible.  Christ’s words (and the words He often quoted or referred back to in the Old Testament), God’s words given through man, and revelations of the God I serve is within those texts.  Now I know people will dispute whether the 66 books of the Bible are correct and whether everything is correct within those texts.  I will not go into that today.  Many apologists have argued quite well for the reasons of why 66.

As for reasons 2-5 (and 6 for that matter), I believe they are all linked together.  Even true believers can go through times of selfishness.  We use these reasons to satisfy our consciences to do what we want to do.  We define what love is and “live and let live.”  They’re not hurting anyone.  We don’t like feeling convicted over a certain sin in our lives or in the lives of people we love.  We don’t want them to be angry with us.  Maybe we don’t want to confront sin in others, so it’s easier to just get rid of Scripture.  Maybe we’re happy with our sinful lives.  Hey, sin is fun!  Otherwise, we wouldn’t sin.  And maybe we know that we are sinning in a specific area that God has revealed to us through His Word, and so we shy away from the Bible.  And if you’re not really a true believer, they why would you read it?  Without the Holy Spirit, you’re missing all the work that God could do in your life.  It’s just another book with “mistakes” in it.

Jesus cared about Scripture.  When Jesus was tempted by Satan, He quoted Scripture to him, saying, “It is written” (Matthew 4:4).  And that was not the only time; many other times He quoted from Scripture, referred back to Scripture, or put importance on Scripture.

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.  Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  (Matthew 5:17-19)

Not only did Jesus confirm this, but Paul also in one of our favorite Bible verses:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.  (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Then you have the idea that Jesus is all about peace, love, and accepting everyone.  If you believe this, you need to read your Bible more.  Yes we are to love one another, but that does not equal peace or acceptance of everything socially acceptable that everyone does.

Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.  I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.  For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.  And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.  Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.  (Matthew 10:34-37)

Still, why read Scripture consistently?

Jesus knew Scripture.  Remember Matthew 4:4, when Jesus was being tempted?  He was quoting Deuteronomy 8:3:

And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

Manna was the main sustenance to the Jews who were wandering in the desert.  It sustained and nourished them.  Likewise so does Scripture for a Christian.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  (Hebrews 4:12)

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.  (Romans 10:17)

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.  (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you…  Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.  (Psalm 119:11, 105)

So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.  (Isaiah 55:11)

Why are we not reading God’s Word every second that we get?  Scripture is the way God communicates to us.  It is His Word.  It sustains and nourishes.  It is “living and active.”  It convicts.  It saves.  It works.  It directs.  It teaches.  It rebukes.  It corrects.  It equips.  It keeps us from sinning.  And it accomplishes what God wants it to accomplish.

It’s time to examine yourself if you are not reading your Bible every day.  Scripture is so powerful and so integral to a Christian for their everyday walk.  You cannot be without it.  Find your road blocks and demolish them with Scripture.  It is active and will cut away all the garbage you or others tell you about why the Bible is not that important.

through His grace alone!

Sarah