No Really, It's Better Than Twilight.

Mind if I ask you where your Bible is?

Assuming you found it,  now let me ask you if you can make pictures on its cover with your finger due to the thick layer of dust that has formed on it over the years..

Please don't answer that.

Before you start justifying yourself, you may as well stop. I've said all those things before, too.

Something I have noticed among Christians today is a startling amount of Bible illiteracy.

I myself am guilty as charged. Disciplining yourself to read God's word can be a challenge at times. But this isn't just your average library book we're neglecting here. This is God's Word. The Life Manual of all Life Manuals. God's Love Letter to His people!

I think part of the problem is that we:

A. Underestimate the redemptive, instructive, prophetic, and healing power of the Word.

B. Just don't take the time to read anymore. We have the attention span of fish. (I blame YOU, Bill Gates!)

But really, it's mostly the former. Because Bill Gates helped make this post happen. I'm sorry I took my anger out on you, Bill. May I call you Billy?

For the sake of prioritizing what is most important and eliminating a whiney rant about the youth of the 21st century that we've all heard ad nauseam, I am going to focus the majority of this post on "A."

When Jesus was led into the desert at the start of His ministry, the devil tempted Him after He had been fasting for forty days and forty nights.

The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” [Matthew 4:3-4]

We'd totally freak out if we couldn't eat for an entire day, wouldn't we?
Or if we forgot to take our medicine when we were incredibly ill?


So why don't we freak out if we don't read the Bible for a day? A week? MONTHS? 


2 Timothy 3:16-17 says that

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 

When we choose not to expose ourselves to God's living and operative Word, we are numbing ourselves from hearing His voice, stunting our spiritual growth, and (more tragic than anything else) denying ourselves the irreplaceable experience of getting to know Him better.

Just like eating ensures that we receive the necessary nutrition we need to function, reading the Word on a regular basis ensures that we receive necessary spiritual nourishment for our souls.

In Psalm 119, King David passionately talks to God about the preciousness of His Word, which is great incentive for us as well:

How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
   By living according to your word. 
I seek you with all my heart;
   do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart

that I might not sin against you. 

[Psalm 119:9-11]

Listen, the Bible is a big book. Digging into God's Word every day doesn't mean you have to take it in large chunks. There are no rules, so long as you Nikeify yourself and 

Feeling overwhelmed? Don't do it alone! There are dozens of helpful Bible-reading programs to help you best understand and organize your daily time with God.

Like me! Click me!

Take it in little increments if that's what works best for you. Just be sure to take time to ruminate over God's "living and active" Word (Hebrews 4:12). I will if you will! After all, when someone writes you a love letter, the least you can do is read it.

Besides, God's passionate love for us is so much more thrilling than whatever the heck is going on between Bella and Lusty McWerewolf. Save them for another time. 

Or not.