This rather imposing book I’m holding is not an easy one to read. In fact, it can be very difficult to understand. For one thing, it was written thousands of years ago, in the context of ancient cultures very different from ours. Their popular songs, their well-known stories, their familiar sayings, are all unfamiliar to us. And so some of things in this book, which were easily understood at the time they were written, are a mystery to us.
In addition, it was written in languages which none of us speak. So we can read it only in an English translation, which inevitably loses some of the meaning and nuance of the original tongues.
Not only that, but this book is a hodgepodge of literary forms. Within its pages we have history, poetry, songs, legal statutes, wisdom literature, prophetic writings, biographies, gospels, letters, Apocalyptic literature, parables, genealogies. It’s more a religious library than a single book. And what makes it such a challenge is that understanding what you’re reading depends to some degree on understanding what kind of literature it is. You wouldn’t interpret something you read in a law book the same way you would interpret a letter or a poem. Even the apostle Peter admits that some of Paul’s writings are less than simple:
"[Paul’s] letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction." -- 2 Peter 3:16 (NIV)
And even if you have a Ph.D. in ancient Near Eastern cultures and are able to read five-thousand year old Hebrew fluently, you still cannot understand the Bible unless God grants you the ability to do so.
"The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." -- 1 Cor. 2:14 (NIV)
"[Jesus] said to them, ’This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.’ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures." -- Luke 24:44-45 (NIV)
So in light of all this, why read the Bible? After all, if you want wisdom, or moral guidance, you can go to the library and check out William Bennet’s "Book of Virtues". If you’re interested in ancient history, there are good modern translations of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. The shelves at Borders are full of inspiring biographies. For parables, it’s hard to beat "Aesop’s Fables". And poetry lovers have the works of Shakespeare and Milton, Walt Whitman and Robert Frost.
So why read the Bible? The educators among us might disagree, but I think most of us could get along quite nicely for the rest of our lives without ever cracking open another book of history, or poetry, or law, or biography. In fact, most adults don’t read much of anything, other than the occasional newspaper or magazine. So why spend the time, why put forth the effort, to read and to try and understand this sometimes difficult and confusing book? I can think of no reason at all, except one: that it claims to be, and is, God’s written revelation to mankind, and that reading it is an essential part of coming to know God. That’s the only reason. If you’re an academic historian, or a professor of comparative religions, you may have other reasons. But for most of us, the only good reason to read the Bible is that this is where God can be found. This is how He chose to reveal Himself to us.
So if you’re seeking to know God, the path of your spiritual journey goes through this book. Four weeks ago, on the last day of 2000, I suggested to you that we each make one resolution for 2001 -- that in the coming year we would seek to know Christ more deeply. Today, and for the next four Sundays, I’m going to help you keep that resolution. I’m going to put some flesh on that skeleton of an idea. Because seeking God, and knowing Christ, is not automatic. It doesn’t just happen. It takes more than good intentions and a willing heart. It takes concrete actions and regular spiritual habits. During this series, I’m going to point you to five of the most valuable of these spiritual habits.
To begin, I’d like to remind you of a couple of God’s promises. Promises that will help sustain us when the journey becomes tiring, when we get discouraged and are tempted to give up the quest. Because knowing God takes work. It doesn’t require superior intelligence, or a specific kind of temperament. But it does require sustained effort. So you have to believe from the beginning that what you’re seeking is worth the cost; you have to believe you’ll find it.
"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." -- Heb. 11:6 (NIV)
If you seek God, He will reward you. And God’s rewards are always worth the effort.
"And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks." -- Luke 11:9-10 (NLT)
Let’s get started with the first of these spiritual habits: reading the Bible. The first thing to know is that the Bible is no ordinary book. I don’t just mean that its subject matter is unique. I don’t just mean that it’s the best of its kind, like Citizen Kane is the best movie ever made. I mean that it’s different than any other book, because it is the Word of God. Not just that it contains the words of God. But that it is itself God’s Word. That has several implications. For instance, it is without error, since God cannot lie or be mistaken, and this is His Word. But what I want to focus on this morning is its power. The Bible has the power to change lives; it has the power to change your life.
To explain what I mean, let’s go back to the Creation story in Genesis. In Genesis 1:3, we read "And God said, ’Let there be light’, and there was light." This same formula is repeated for each of the six days of creation, as God brought the entire cosmos into existence through His word. The word of God itself had the power to accomplish His purpose. He just spoke, and it happened.
"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish . . . so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." -- Isaiah 55:10-11 (NIV)
"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." -- Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)
God’s word has power. It isn’t just ink on a page; it’s living and active. It does things. You hear it, and it goes in your ears, or you read it, and it enters in by the eyes, and immediately it goes to work. It starts to accomplish God’s purpose in you, to strengthen your faith, to give you understanding, to open your eyes to the truth, to draw you to God in love so that you can know Him. God’s Word always accomplishes its purpose in us, whenever we allow it in by reading or hearing.
One of the ways the Word shows its power is by exposing what’s in our heart. It penetrates deeply into our soul, like a sword, cutting through all the layers of pretense, until it finally gets to the truth. It reveals our thoughts and attitudes. It tears down our façade of religiosity, it strips away the veneer of outward righteousness. And it shows us whether we truly are what we think we are. God knows us completely. He’s not fooled by appearances; He sees what’s in our heart. And the more we read His Word, the more we will see the truth about ourselves as well. That truth can be uncomfortable. It can be disturbing. And for that reason, many people avoid reading the Bible. They don’t like what it shows them about themselves. But ultimately it liberates us, as we face our sin and weakness, and as we turn to God for forgiveness and strength and change.
You see, the Word’s power isn’t limited just to searching our hearts and revealing what’s there. The Word also has the power to change us, to purify us, to renew us, to transform us. The more we are in God’s Word, the more we will think like God thinks. The more we will love what He loves and hate what He hates. The more we will value what He values. The more we will be able to distinguish between truth and falsehood, between good and evil. The more we are in His Word, the more we will be like Him. And the more we are in the Word, the more deeply we will know Him and love Him.
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." -- Romans 12:2 (NIV)
That’s what the Word does. It transforms us.
Another reason to read the Bible is that it gives us joy. I know that many people feel about Bible reading the way they feel about eating their vegetables, or flossing their teeth, or cleaning out their roof gutters in the Fall. It’s something they know they should do, but which they don’t especially relish, and which they put off as long as possible. But it doesn’t have to be like that. For those who are willing to make the effort to understand it, the Bible is more than just a source of knowledge. It’s also a source of great joy and delight.
"When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty." -- Jeremiah 15:16 (NIV)
"Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors. The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart." -- Psalm 119:24, 72, 103, 111 (NIV)
Like a Beethoven concerto, the word of God is simple enough to be enjoyed by a child, and at the same time, deep enough to reward a lifetime of dedicated study. A three-year old can grasp the story of Jonah and the whale, and a Ph.D. in theology can spend a lifetime trying to fathom how God could become a man. The Bible rewards even a few minutes a day of reading. But it has an inexhaustible supply of treasures for those who are more diligent.
God’s Word hasn’t changed. The Scriptures David was speaking of are part of our Old Testament. And if we continue seeking God in His Word, He can give us the same kind of joy that David knew, so that reading the Bible won’t be a drudgery, or just a duty, but a delight. It will give us delight because it is a book about the God we love, and on every page is written His love for us.
Third, the Bible is worth reading because it is the authoritative guide for living. It’s the owner’s manual for human life. It answers all the fundamental questions:
* Where did I come from? Where am I going?
* Is there a God? What’s He like? What does He want from me?
Not only that, but it also addresses the kinds of practical issues and ethical choices we face every day. How you should treat people, including the people who mistreat you. Dealing with anger. Raising children. Wealth and poverty. Self-control. Husbands and wives. How to resist temptation, and which temptations you should resist. Where to find hope and comfort in the midst of suffering. What it means to love someone. Discerning truth from falsehood, reality from appearance. There’s a book on the bestseller lists right now titled, "A Short Guide to a Happy Life." The problem is that the publisher is two thousand years late. That book has already been written. Everything you need to know to live a happy and fulfilling life, a life pleasing to God, is in this book, the Bible.
"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." -- 2 Peter 1:3 (NIV)
If you want to have understanding and discernment; if you want to be wise instead of foolish, then don’t spend all your free time watching TV. That’s hardly the route to wisdom. Don’t waste your time reading self-help books or watching Oprah. Read the Bible. In it you’ll find proven wisdom that has been around for thousands of years. True wisdom, the kind that comes from God and leads us to God.
"My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding . . . then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." -- Prov. 2:1-2, 5-6 (NIV)
"Your commands make me wiser than my enemies. . . I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes." -- Psalm 119:98-99 (NIV)
Finally, how do we go about this? How do I read the Bible? Which version do I use? What time of day? How much do I read at a time? Where do I start? And the answer to all of those questions is that it doesn’t really matter. You can memorize it, listen to it on tape as you drive to work, read a chapter a day or read through the whole Bible in a year. You can use a daily devotional guide. You can read the NIV, the KJV, the NASB, or the NLT. The important thing is to just do it. Read the Bible. And make it a regular habit, every day if possible. Just like you can’t eat a whole week’s worth of food in one day, no matter how much you eat, you can’t get a whole week of spiritual nourishment in one day’s reading, no matter how much you read.
(For an .rtf file of this and other sermons, see www.journeychurchonline.org/messages.htm)
