Why Should I Read The Bible?
Have you ever done something really hard? I remember my first week at varsity soccer tryouts in High School like it was yesterday. I wanted to make sure I was first in every run and at one point ran so hard I had to puke. The tasks the coach gave me were too hard for me to complete. But I did them anyway. Why? Because I wanted to play badly enough.
In the same way, many of us would say that reading the Bible is hard. It’s hard to understand. It’s hard to stay consistent. So, why not just give up? Here’s the big idea today: It’s worth it.
The Bible is worth a lifetime of devoted study. Here’s THREE reasons you should be reading the Word of God.
01. We don’t Know Who God is without the Bible.
There’s no video, book, or google search phrase with the answer to who is God. And yet deep down that’s the question all our heart are longing for. Sure, we can see God in all creation as the Psalmist says, “The Heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). But the fact of Jesus’ resurrection, God’s detailed nature, and His particular ways aren’t written in the stars or in the seas. For the details we need the Bible. The Bible is what theologians call “Revelation”. It’s God revealing Himself (Hebrews 1:1-3, 1 Peter 1:20).
Has anyone thought they knew you but they’d never really met you? Would you prefer people to try guess what you’re like based on what others say about you? Wouln't you want them to let you speak for yourself? Of course you would! Yet, how many of us let God speak for Himself? How many of us get to know Him in His Word? Here’s the beautiful hope: TODAY God is inviting you to open His word and find Him there, personally!
02 We don’t know who we are without the Bible.
Your identity shapes everything about you. Going through high school and middle school isn’t just about learning math, it’s about discovering who you are. But here’s the problem: all around you, the world is shouting at you and trying to tell you who you are. The culture demands you become who they want. Underneath the culture, is an Enemy the Bible calls “Satan” whispering lies to detract you from God’s intent for you. What voice are you going to listen to?
God also wants to speak. He wants to speak into you. God made you. He wants you.
Have you made mistakes? Have you been hurt? Do you struggle? He doesn’t want those to things to define you. He has given you a new identity in Christ. There’s healing in that. He wants to shape your identity on the hope, calling, and beauty of His Word.
The lie the World wants you to beliece is: you’ve come from nothing, you’re going no where, and life is ultimately has no spiritual meaning. But God's Word says “...He chose us in him before the foundation of the world…He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will..." (Ephesians 1:4-5).
03 We don’t know the real problem or solution without the Bible.
I was really into music growing up. Interestingly, it seemed like every song was telling a story about what’s wrong with life. By the end of many songs they offer hope and a solution. Have you noticed this? Often, artists say the problem is something out there (some pain you’ve gone through, a break up, a person that hurt you) and the solution is within (that deep place we dig down and find ourselves). But the same songs keep being written as the same artists keep searching for the same solution because they have it wrong.
Even as a non-Christian, high school sophomore I knew there were no real solutions inside of me. I was a good student and a competitive athlete, but I wasn’t my own Savior. I was empty of the more I was longing for deep down. When I began reading the Bible at 16 I found the complete opposite message. It changed everything. The Bible declares that the problem is within: sin. the Bible declares the only solution is Jesus’ cross and resurrection: the Gospel. As a disciple of Jesus today, I have found a new ability to live a new life with a new power: the Holy Spirit. the Bible says that anyone who surrenders their life to Jesus will have the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead fill them and dwell within them.
That’s a solution I can give my life to! And the Word of God contains truth worth reading every day. What about you?