When I was a child, I loved to read, as my family can testify. Reading provided a way for me to escape, even if only for a while, from the pain and poverty of everyday existence. I read voraciously, consuming with my mind every book or magazine I could find. One of the books I found lying about was the Bible. I settled on one that had some of its pages missing, unusual in a house in which anything related to God was held in almost superstitious reverence. I remember puzzling over words like “divers” in the books containing the laws Moses set down; what in the world did divers have to do with the Bible? In any event, some of the people at our little Methodist church saw me with my dilapidated Bible one day, and the church bought me a new one. That was a joyous day for me.

But, still, the Word of God was just another book to me, full of fascinating stories and incomprehensible rituals. When I was saved, at age 13, I read the Good Book more diligently for a while, but still didn’t really understand much of what I read. That continued well into my adult years, even though I was very active in church and taught Sunday School on occasion. Only in the past twenty years or so have I let the Holy Spirit teach me, rather than trying to understand everything with my own mind.

The natural man, Paul says, can not receive the things of God; they are foolishness to him, because they are spiritually discerned (I Corinthians 2:14, paraphrased). Our Lord Jesus called the Holy Sprit, among other titles, our teacher: “…he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said to you.” (John 14:26). Whenever we, as Christians, read the Word, we should first of all ask the Spirit to help us understand what we’re reading. Sometimes something may leap out at us just in the course of reading; at other times, we may have to chew on the words for a while, meditate on them. Just reading a passage of Scripture and saying we’ve had our Bible study is like smelling food and saying we’ve eaten; it may be pleasant, but affords no nourishment.

Carrying the analogy a bit further, Bible study and prayer are our spiritual food and drink. Without them, our spirits wither away to skin and bones. The longest chapter in the Bible, Psalms 119, deals exclusively with God’s law, which was the scripture as David understood it. This lengthy passage brims with analogies and descriptions relating to the benefits of studying and meditating on the Word, and the problems that come with failing to study it. David said he hid the Lord’s word in his heart, that he might not sin against the Lord; how can we expect to obey the Lord’s commandments if we don’t even know what they are? As the much overused saying goes, “If you don’t know what you stand for, you’ll fall for anything.” A Christian who doesn’t understand what the Bible teaches is a prime target for a cult more than willing to lay out in detail its own notion of the truth.

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalms 119:105) If you want to know what the will of God, look first in his Word. Get a good concordance or study guide, if you want guidance for specific matters. The entire Bible is inspired by God, and the supply of inspiration from it is endless. Paul told his student, Timothy, in the same verse that tells us the scriptures are inspired, that it is profitable for doctrine, reproof (rebuke or censure of wrong thinking), correction (of errors in doctrine or belief) and instruction in righteousness. Directly or indirectly, and always by the working of the Holy Spirit, the Bible has an answer for every question of your life, and a solution for every problem.

Many of us willingly spend several long years learning the specialized knowledge we need for the career of our choice. Others of us do what it takes to learn how to drive, operate a computer, or even program a VCR. Our walk as Christians involves a lifetime of OJT, on the job training. We never arrive at a place, this side of glory, when we can say we know all there is to know, or all we need to know, about being Christians. My own journey goes back over 37 years, along many a bumpy and winding path. If I stopped where I am now, I would drown in complacency and spiritual pride, not to mention ignorance.

I can not count, and do not care to count, the number of times I have read the Bible through. All I know is that, every time I read it, it is forever changing and fresh. If you read a passage of scripture, and can’t remember anything about what you just read, or if the words hold no meaning, the problem isn’t with the Bible. I’ve been there far too many times; the problem is always my relationship with God. Unless that is right, everything else is wrong.

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JESUS IS the Bridge Ministries

Beneath His Wings Devotionals - Vol. 1