This January hundreds of those in the PCC church family committed to read through the New Testament in 30 days. This is kind of like P90X for your heart. Saturating your soul with copious amounts of the Scripture will pay rich dividends. Here are some of the reasons why I read the Bible everyday:
1. It gives me truth. The Word of God contains the truth of God. On the other hand, the world is full of lies. The world lies to me everyday about what will make me happy, what will bring me significance and so on. But the Word of God reminds me of what is true and real and it refocuses my mind and gives me clarity in a foggy, murky world.
2. It keeps me from sin. Sin is more an attitude than an action. It's an attitude that says I can do whatever I want without having to give an account for my actions. But God's Word teaches me that God is the ultimate authority in my life. So I read his Word and it put in my heart and it keeps my attitude in check prevents me from falling into sin.
3. It encourages me to dream big. When you read God's Word you understand that he specializes in doing great things through people who are pretty much screwed up. He works through those who have problems with: lying, sex, anger, impatience, and much more. So, when I read these stories of the kind of person God uses it encourages me to believe that God can use me - a big screw up too - to do great things.
4. It makes me want to be more like Jesus. I make it a practice to not so much read the Bible, but to let it read me. It challenges me. Corrects me. Trains me. Chisels me. And changes me into the image and likeness of Jesus. After all, Jesus is the Word. The Word is Jesus. If I have more of the Word in me than it stands to reason that I will become more like Jesus.
5. It comforts me in difficult days. We all go through some rough seasons in life. Days when we don't want to even get out of bed and face the world. It's during those dark and difficult days that I find great comfort from the deep reservoir of God's World. I guarantee that if you have a favorite Bible passage, it was written in a time when someone was going through a deep valley in life, not a mountain top experience. And if God brought them through it I know He will bring me through it too.
