The Bible is a book that has been read more and examined less than any book that ever existed. --Thomas Paine
When the word Bible comes to mind what comes to your mind? Does the thought of reading it prompt feelings of delight or drudgery? Do you see the Bible as " living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword" (Hebrews 4:12), or do you see it as a ordinary, outdated, historical book impractical to live by in our world today. Do you believe some parts of the Bible and doubt others, or do you firmly believe "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16) ?
The truth is what we think about the Bible will directly impact how much time we spend in the Word.
If we treasure the pages of Scripture as the blessed man of Psalm 1, we will have an insatiable appetite for the Word of God. Consider how Spurgeon describes the blessed man's delight of God's word mentioned in Psalm 1:
And now mark his positive character. "His delight is in the law of the Lord." He is not under the law as a curse and condemnation, but he is in it, and he delights to be in it as his rule of life; he delights, moreover, to meditate in it, to read it by day, and think upon it by night. He takes a text and carries it with him all day long; and in the night-watches, when sleep forsakes his eyelids, he museth upon the Word of God. In the day of his prosperity he sings psalms out of the Word of God, and in the night of his affliction he comforts himself with promises out of the same book.
Perhaps this year you are determined to read the Bible cover to cover. If so, that's fantastic, because God's Word never returns void (Isa. 55:11) and like 2 Timothy 3:16 said, "All Scripture is...profitable." But I pray that you'll join me in spending time in the Bible beyond only reading it. Study it. Memorize it. Meditate on it. Sing it. Whatever gets us more in the Word (and the Word more into us) is a great thing!
Charles Spurgeon said of this, "Some people like to read so many [Bible] chapters every day. I would not dissuade them from the practice, but I would rather lay my soul asoak in half a dozen verses all day than rinse my hand in several chapters. Oh, to be bathed in a text of Scripture, and to let it be sucked up in your very soul, till it saturates your heart!" If you want to spend more time in the Word, but never seem to get around it, I invite you to examine the awesomeness of God's Word--that you may regularly cultivate a love for God's Word. Like the blessed man in Psalm 1, an insatiable love for God's Word is the mark of a truly fulfilling devotional life. Nurturing a deep love for God's Word is also one simple way to increase your time in the Word, because your love for it will daily spur you on to be in the Word, more and more.
May we increase our time spent in the Bible that we would actually soak our souls in the Word of God. May the Lord richly bless your week as you delight yourself in His Word.
Question for you: What about God's Word do you most delight in? Why?
Copyright © 2012 Brooke Espinoza.
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