Today’s we are looking to build a Bible Reading Habit. And let’s confess there is not a man alive who couldn’t do better in this area. But let’s address the facts. And there are two on your page today I want you to notice.
First, as many of you know, The Bible is the best-selling, least read, and most misunderstood book in the world. (Slide) Many of you are already aware that the Bible is the first book ever printed and widely dispersed after the printing press was invented in 1440. Yet the problem for many of us is not that we don’t have a Bible, it is that we don’t read it. Just look at the second statistic from the Gallup Organization. They say that in their studies of Christians, 64 percent of those questioned said they were "too busy" to read the Bible. (Slide)
I assume this fact isn’t shocking. But what this tells us, is that there is a major gap between Bible ownership and Bible use. A 64% gap!
And I find it astounding that we believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, and yet are too busy to read the most valuable resource we have that contains objective and inspired truth.
So, our goal in today’s lesson is to discover the value of Bible reading with the outcome of developing new Bible reading habits that get us consistently into the Bible more.
One best practice I have used over the years is reading the Bible on audio early in the morning. A number of years back, I got hooked on this and I fell in love with it. I have a pair of headphones next to my bed, and when I cannot sleep, or wake early in the morning, I read my Bible on audio. It took me a while to get good at reading this way, but I loved it.
But let’s turn to the text today in your handbook. The text is an extension of last week’s text. Let me read it for you today and it is a short extension of the text from last week.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ 24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”’ Matthew 7:21-27 (Slide)
I think this text is great on teaching us the value of God’s Word. Jesus begins by creating a lot of tension around the fact that in the end there will be believers who think that they know the truth, but get it all wrong. Here Jesus is referencing the religious officials of the day and the fact that their righteousness was built on performance and showmanship alone. And although their life manifested righteous actions, underneath their motivations were misaligned.
But then Jesus connects a construction analogy to help us understand the connection between the value of God’s Word and our deeper motivation. He imagines a violent storm striking two types of houses or men. In the situation, everything appears very similar on the surface, except for a few one unseen difference – the location of the foundation. There is one house, or man, who hears and does, contrasted with a man who hears and “looks like he does.” Thus, one man builds his life on a rock, and the other on the sand.
Let me say it this way to bring attention to what Jesus is illustrating.
There is one man who hears and pretends.
There is another man who hears and does not pretend.
And the difference between the two is “how they listen” and act. The deeper issue for Jesus is one of motivation. Showmanship means nothing.
But remember, like last week, Jesus is not giving us construction advice, he is talking about the methodology we use to build our life. And with the inclusion of the additional text, we discover that Jesus is taking the application beyond proclamation, appearances, showmanship, and seen behaviors into motivational change. This is found by connecting the introduction in verses 21-23 with the illustration in verses 24-27. And the call is for us to get both right.
First by integrating our saying with our doing.
Second, doing it for the right reason.
And both are being “founded on the rock” and this is the value of God’s Word. It helps us do both.
On your page, John 8:31-32 captures the essence of this. It reads, “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” John 8:31-32 (Slide)
We must both abide and know the truth. It is not just the truth that changes us but knowing the truth that leads to freedom. And the word “know,” is the Greek word gnosko, which means a full knowing. And you will note this word is found in both of our texts today. Here in John 8 as well as in Matthew 7. And why? Well because Jesus wants us to fully know, not partially know, because he understands that knowing is the linchpin of our belief, faith, and obedience. And we know by remaining in the Word. And here is the value, when we know the Word, we get to know God – which leads to freedom.
Now before we start feeling too guilty, I want to help you to discover how to build a better Bible reading habit that leads you to knowing more about God. Because we can all get better at this.
So, notice the illustration on your page. It contains four boxes that will walk us through how to build a better Bible reading habit.
Our first step is in box one. We must identify the negative emotion we feel when we do not read the Bible.
Honestly, I used to beat myself up for years around my failures in this area. And we have all been here. At some point, we have felt some negative emotion around our Bible reading behaviors. It could be inadequacy, regret, guilt, shame, or some other negative emotion. All you need to do is be able to do is identify the emotion and what it might be for you. It is the feeling you feel when you know you should read, but don’t. Take a second to write that down under that box in your handbook.
Our second step is to identify the positive reward.
Now this one is going to sound backwards to you, but we do experience a positive reward when we don’t read the Bible. The reward, in this case, is what we do instead of reading the Bible. Whatever that activity is, is the positive reward. We have to identify this. The reward could be as simple as more time, a pressing issue, or that we don’t care. But we are rewarding ourselves with something when we don’t read the Bible. Consider for a moment what this might be for you and write it down underneath the box in your handbook. And please be honest with yourself.
Our third step is to delete the bad pattern.
What we need to do is decouple the two previous items. They are often coupled together and have become a powerful recurring pattern which keeps us from building a new habit. Since changing this habit is hard, we are going to have to break it. You may not think of this as a habit, but it is. It’s a bad habit.
Our fourth step is going to be building a new pattern with a new reward.
In this box, we are going to read the Bible and couple it with a more powerful reward. For example, the reward of getting to know God.
Let me give you an example of how this might work. And you may want to take a couple of notes here.
So, for me, traditional One-year Bible Reading Plans seem to promote all kinds of negative feelings for me that lead to bad habits. And I believe these emotions are not beneficial for reinforcing a healthy Bible reading habit.
Here are two reasons why. Either, I often start well, then I miss a day or a week and this produces guilt and then I try to make up for my loses by reading multiple days. Or I start off well, and I just get lost from all the jumping around between the Old and New Testament and feel disconnected from the story. And these approaches lead me to negative feelings, which reinforce all the reasons why I fail to build the habit with positive rewards.
So, I confess, I quit using Bible Reading Plans years ago. Not because they don’t work, but because they don’t work for me.
Today, I set my reading habit and process on Comprehension Not Completion (Slide). Rather than focusing on “daily reading that gets me through the Bible in one year” (completion), I focus my process on “regular patterns of reading that deepens my love for God’s Word” (comprehension).
Here is what this looks like for me.
First, I read on a regular basis (Slide), usually in five-day sprints. And when I read I set my sights on a single book at a time, with no particular pace to my reading. I just read until I have read enough, for me, this happens to be about 5-8 chapters at a time.
Second, within my reading, I identify one text or theme that challenges me. (Slide) And usually, I spend a minute or two on that text confessing or contemplating how applying that will make me a better man.
Third, throughout the day I find one way to share it (Slide) with others. This could be sharing the principle of the text, and not the text itself. But I find that every day, God gives me some opportunity to share it.
And it is addicting, or habit-forming, to see the Spirit at work through this process, which reinforces a positive reward that keeps me coming back for more. While this method may not get me through the Bible in one year, it is inspiring to see a personal process, and habit changes you and transforms others.
And this is how I have built a better Bible reading habit. And maybe you can get more creative, but I will leave that up to you.
