If you love me, you will obey what I commend... He who does not love Me will not obey My teaching. These words you hear are not My own; they belong to the Father Who sent Me.

John 14:15 & 24, NIV (1978)

 

"Have you read your Bible today? I hope you have!"

 

These are the words, uttered by a wise preacher, that helped me to become a daily Bible reader some 43 years ago. 

 

Now, I had heard a lot of pleas and warnings and even threats about what would happen if I did not read the Bible, but for some reason these simple words by a kind preacher plucked a responsive chord within me that day. He preached a lot about reading the Bible, but he didn't do it in the typical manner. He spoke not only about our personal responsibility, but also of the great privilege we have in the opportunity to read the very words of God. And he also said something else that caused a shift in my thinking, for he begged us not to take his word for the things he was saying, but to find out for ourselves from the only Source that was capable of accurately passing along God's truths.

 

It was a simple but powerful point: We will all kneel before God someday to give an account of how we lived our lives. The instructions (not "helpful suggestions") for how to live that life are contained only in the Bible. It would do no good to tell God that you were only doing what some preacher had told you to do, because you would likely find yourself in the exact same place that this preacher who taught you wrong was in - and it would be a place that we did not like!

 

So, at the ripe old age of twenty-two, I became a daily Bible reader. It wasn't easy at first. It wasn't particularly fun, and I had always preferred fun over study. It was a new habit, and habits are not only hard to break, but good ones are often hard to form. It's akin to what Thomas Edison said about opportunity when he observed, "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." Well, reading the Bible everyday certainly looked like work to me and as I have already established, I prefer fun over work.

 

Still, I could see his point, so one day not too long after hearing that sermon when I was in the office alone and didn't have much to do, I took a Bible and opened it up. It opened to the Old Testament book of Zephaniah, and I started to read. Now, for those of you who are as unfamiliar with Zephaniah as I was at the time, it is not a particularly cheery book to read. It was a warning of Israel's impending doom because they had not obeyed God. But it was a short book, so I continued on. It had a lot of things in there about disobedience that made me feel uncomfortable, but I pressed on. At its conclusion was a warning for those who remained in their disobedience, but a promise of redemption for those who would become obedient.

 

I was convinced!

 

So I determined right then and there that I would become a daily Bible reader. At first, I have to admit that I didn't get too much out of it for I was still seeing the work but missing the opportunity. But I pressed on, reading every day without fail. At the beginning there were even a few nights where I had already gone to bed, only to realize I had failed to read the Bible that day. On would come the light and I would read a verse or two. "What a waste" you might be thinking, and it is true that I didn't get much out of a verse or two when half asleep, but there was something I gained: It was a habit for life.

 

Furthermore, I am convinced, it is a habit which saved my life! Or, more accurately, put me in contact with the only One who could save me.

 

By becoming a daily Bible reader, I began to see that the Christian life is far deeper and more profound than anything I had experienced to that point. I always fancied myself as a logical person and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Word of God, contrary to those who attest that it is filled with superstition and nonsense, was actually the most practical book ever written. It tells us the history of the world, and even though it is not a history book, it contains the most accurate account of history ever given. It reveals many scientific facts, and though it is not a science book, I have found no contradiction to true science within it. It certainly contradicts the evolutionists, but if ever there was a theory with more holes in it than are found in your typical golf course, evolutionary theory is it.

 

But it was the truth that I discovered for myself that changed my life, for this Book really does contain the words of life. It has changed my life completely and, as a result, has changed the entire course and legacy of my family. It is the most precious document ever written - more influential than the Magna Carta, and more impressive than the Constitution. It tells us the best way to live, and it gives us hope for the future. And why not? It contains the perfect words of our Creator!

 

There is one other point I want to leave you with before I conclude my plea to you to become a daily Bible reader  in this New Year, if you have not yet begun: The Bible contains everything you need to be saved, and those who find it and comply with this message of salvation will therefore be saved. But for those who do not, I wouldn't give you much hope for ever being saved. This is not my own personal opinion by the way; it is a truth from the very Word of God. 

 

Have you read your Bible today? If not, I hope that you will and that you will never stop.

 

It has the power to save your life!