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Daily Bible reading is an excellent habit that can benefit every Christian in many ways. We’ll discuss three main benefits in this post.
When we read the Bible, we’re fed by God’s Word and supplied for our Christian life. Jesus mentioned this in Matthew 4:4 when He said,
“Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.”
Other verses in the Bible also make it clear that God’s Word is nourishment to us. For example, 1 Peter 2:2 says,
“As newborn babes, long for the guileless milk of the word in order that by it you may grow unto salvation.”
And in the Old Testament, Jeremiah 15:16 says,
“Your words were found and I ate them, and Your word became to me the gladness and joy of my heart.”
When we eat physical food, we’re supplied with the nutrients we need to live and be healthy. We get the energy to go to work, exercise, and spend time with family and friends. Conversely, when we skip a meal, we feel weak, tired, and even grumpy. And if we keep missing meals, we become susceptible to even greater problems, like illness.
Similarly, when we eat spiritual food we’re supplied to live our Christian life. But when we’re away from God’s Word for a while, we can become spiritually weak, tired, and “grumpy,” or, unable to handle difficulties well. We become more susceptible to temptation, doubts, and other kinds of spiritual sickness. We simply don’t have the means to cope with the many challenges that come into our lives as believers.
It’s very important, therefore, that we’re supplied by reading and feeding on God’s Word every day. To maintain a healthy and even joyful Christian life, we need daily Bible reading to receive the spiritual nourishment in God’s Word for us.
What if we don’t understand what we’re reading? We may wonder whether we should keep reading the Bible. Or maybe we’re discouraged because by the afternoon we’ve forgotten what we read in the morning. Should we keep on reading, even when we don’t remember much?
The answer is, yes, definitely. This is because a great benefit of reading God’s Word is that it washes us.
Ephesians 5:26 says,
“That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word.”
The “her” here is the church, which is composed of all the believers in Christ, and “the washing of the water in the word” here indicates something different from the washing of our sins by the Lord’s blood. So what is this washing?
Here’s what note 3 on this verse in the Recovery Version says about the washing of the water in the Word:
“The washing of the water here is different from the washing of the redeeming blood of Christ. The redeeming blood washes away our sins (1 John 1:7; Rev. 7:14), whereas the water of life washes away the blemishes of the natural life of our old man, such as the ‘spot or wrinkle or any such things’ mentioned in v. 27. In separating and sanctifying the church, the Lord first washes away our sins with His blood (Heb. 13:12) and then washes away our natural blemishes with His life. We are now in such a washing process, that the church may be holy and without blemish (v. 27).”
We may understand that we need the washing of our sins by the Lord’s blood, but we also need to realize that we need the washing away of our natural life by His life. How do we get this washing of life? The washing water of life is in God’s Word. So even if we don’t remember or fully understand what we read, our daily Bible reading still washes us from so many negative things.
[[Free Study Bible]]
Our faith is based not on our imaginations or concepts but on the Word of God, so it’s critical that we as Christians all know what God’s Word says. By reading the Word regularly, we’ll eventually read through the entire Bible and gain a basic knowledge of God and the things of God. Gaining this basic knowledge is like learning our ABCs. If we don’t learn the letters of the alphabet, it’s impossible for us to read or write. To understand even the simplest book or write a letter, we first have to learn our ABCs.
Knowing what’s in the Bible is like knowing our spiritual ABCs. Becoming familiar with the words, facts, stories, and expressions in the Bible forms in us the building blocks the Lord can use to show us more of the truth in His Word. This helps us to know Him in a deeper way and allows Him to speak to us more and more through the Word.
God has given us a powerful and wonderful gift in His Word. By reading it, we’re not only spiritually educated but also washed and nourished within. If you’d like some help with reading the Bible regularly, take a look at our post on building up a habit of daily Bible reading. And if you live in the US, you can order a free New Testament study Bible from us here.
Where did the Bible come from? Are its words simply religious lore, written down by people over the centuries? Are they the product of the thoughts and imaginations of men? Or is the Bible the inspired Word of God? Did God write the Bible? Or did men?
Since our faith is based on this book, it’s crucial for us as Christians to know the source of the Bible.
When we want to find out how reliable something is, we check its source. For example, we definitely want to know where our drinking water comes from. If we know it comes from a pure source, we’re confident we can drink it without harm. In the same way, we trust certain news reports if we believe the reporters are reliable and their facts are checked.
For us to gauge the trustworthiness of something, it helps if we know its source. When we do, we can then determine whether we should disregard it or deem it valuable and reliable. So much depends on its source. The same is true with the Bible.
Throughout the ages, many people from different cultures at different times have written down their thoughts, observations, and philosophies on life. But what about the Bible? Is it merely a collection of the thoughts, observations, and philosophies of pious men about God?
In 2 Peter 1:21, the apostle Peter says:
“For no prophecy was ever borne by the will of man, but men spoke from God while being borne by the Holy Spirit.”
Peter explains that although the Scriptures were written through men, these men spoke from God. The source of the Bible is God, not men.
We can see this when we consider the true and profound words in the Scriptures. Could any person write such words? At times, they defy our expectations by providing indescribable comfort or piercing light concerning our inner condition. Even if a person wanted to write something for or about God, all mankind is fallen, and the mind of man is darkened and limited, incapable of writing such words as those found in the Bible.
[[Free Study Bible]]
Men didn’t speak from themselves, but were used by God to record the words in the Bible. To understand how this could occur, we need to look more closely at this phrase: “men spoke from God while being borne by the Holy Spirit.”
Note 2 on 2 Peter 1:21 in the New Testament Recovery Version explains:
“No prophecy was ever borne by the will of man. Man’s will, desire, and wish, with his thought and exposition, were not the source from which any prophecy came; the source was God, by whose Holy Spirit men were borne, as a ship is borne by the wind, to speak out the will, desire, and wish of God.”
If you’ve ever watched a boat sailing on the water, you’ve seen its sails catch the wind. It moves not by its own power, but by the power of that wind. This picture demonstrates how the Bible came from God. Just as a boat is moved by the wind, certain men were borne, or carried along, by the Holy Spirit. By this Spirit these men could speak or write down the will, desire, and wish of God. This is what we mean when we say that the Bible is inspired by God.
So the words of the Bible didn’t originate from man’s own mind. But how did this “being borne by the Holy Spirit” happen?
It’s important to see that God created human beings not only with a mind, but also with an inward part that’s deeper than the mind. The Bible tells us in Zechariah 12:1 that God “formed the spirit of man within him.” This “spirit of man” is our deepest part, and just like the other parts of our being, it has a particular function. Our eyes are for seeing, our ears are for hearing, and our human spirit is for contacting, receiving, and containing God.
John 4:24 says:
“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit.”
The first Spirit in this verse refers to the divine Spirit, and the second spirit refers to the human spirit. With our human spirit, we can worship, fellowship with, and know God, who is Spirit.
So how does this relate to where the Bible came from? As certain men had fellowship with God in their spirit, they were borne, or carried along, by the Holy Spirit to write down not their own words, but the words of God. The Scriptures are God’s words, and they are holy because their source is God. They came to us from men who were borne by the Holy Spirit to speak and write words from God.
If we don’t see that God Himself is the source of the Bible, that all Scripture is God-breathed, then the foundation of our Christian life will be unsteady and vulnerable. Our faith rests solidly on the Bible. For us to have confidence in this book, we need to see clearly that God is the source of the Bible.
In our daily environment, we interact with people who don’t believe in God or value the Bible’s words as being from God. At work, at school, on television, in movies—nearly everywhere we look—we encounter things and people that may make us question the Bible, causing us to ask ourselves questions like, “Is the Bible reliable?” “Is everything in the Bible true?” “How do I know the Bible is true?” And if we’re unsure about the Bible, our faith can be shaken.
However, if we’re clear that God is the source of the Bible, we’ll know its words are trustworthy, true, and pure because God is trustworthy, true, and pure. We’ll have confidence in the reliability of the Bible, and our faith will be strengthened by its words. God’s Word can sustain us in all situations, guide us to know God today, and be depended on for all eternity.
Because we know God Himself is the source of the Scriptures, we can trust the Bible wholeheartedly, without reservation or doubt. By trusting in and relying on the Bible, we’ll come to know God more and more deeply both in this book and in our lives.
If you live in the US, you can order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version here.
A commonly held thought about the Bible is that it’s mainly for studying, and so questions like these arise: How can I study the Bible? What Bible study method should I use? What’s the best Bible study tool?
Although these are good questions to consider, they distract us from one of the most crucial concepts about God’s Word.
We should certainly read, understand, and even study the Word of God, but one of the most important things we can ever know about the Bible is that God intended it to be food to us. Many verses throughout the Bible express this thought. Here are just a few.
We all know physical food is absolutely necessary to nourish and sustain life. By eating food we live and grow. Eating spiritually is paramount to our Christian life. God gave us His divine life when we were regenerated, and He gave us His Word as our food so we can be nourished and grow in His life.
If we think God’s only intention in giving us His Word is that we would understand doctrines and teachings, our aim would be to acquire more knowledge from it. We may spend our time reading the Bible in a cerebral way and gain much knowledge in letter from the Bible. Yet we’re still hungry within and spiritually weak.
This is like being hungry and coming to study, but not eat, the delicious dishes prepared by a chef for us. We would never do such a thing with food spread before us. Instead, we would eat it, taste it, and be nourished and satisfied by our eating.
God, our “chef” has prepared His Word as a wonderful feast to nourish us. Seeing this about His Word will revolutionize our approach to the Bible. We’ll approach it not solely or mainly as a book to study but as food to eat so we can be living with God’s life.
So how do we eat God’s Word as food?
John 6 gives the account of the Lord’s physically feeding the multitude in a miraculous way. But then He speaks of Himself as the bread of life, the bread that came down out of heaven to give life to the world, and in verse 57 He says we must eat Him to live:
“As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.”
The Lord, of course, didn’t mean we should physically eat Him, so He continued in verse 63,
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to You are spirit and are life.”
The key here is to see the Spirit gives life, and God’s words are spirit and life for us to eat and live. But how can the words of the Bible be converted from mere black and white letters on the page to spirit and life to feed us and give us life?
To illustrate how to convert God’s Word into spirit and life, let’s consider the use of an app, short for application. An app is a piece of software created and designed for electronic devices like smart phones and tablets. They enable users to perform all kinds of tasks, such as shopping or tracking fitness. Some apps convert one language into another.
Did you know God installed in us an amazing “converting app?” This God-created “app” is our human spirit, the deepest part of our being. Designed specially by God, it has the ability to contact Him and receive His life. Our spirit, when we use it, can convert God’s words into spirit and life to us.
[[Free Study Bible]]
The way to use, or exercise, our human spirit is to pray. So the way to use our spirit to convert the words in the Bible into spirit and life is to pray over and with them.
For instance, in our Bible reading we may come across Hebrews 4:12 which says,
“For the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
We may not fully understand what this verse means, but when we use our spirit to pray with these words, they become nourishing food to us. We can eat this verse by praying like this:
“Lord Jesus, thank You, Your word is living! It’s not dead. Oh Lord, Your living word gives me life. And Lord, it’s also operative. Oh Lord, I let it operate in me. And thank You, it’s sharper than a two-edged sword, and can divide my soul from my spirit. Lord Jesus, I want to live in my spirit where you are, not in my soul.”
When we take time not just to read but also to pray over and with the words of the Bible, we receive spirit and life as God intended. God’s Word comes alive to us. Eating God’s Word as spiritual food satisfies us.
For more on God’s Word as food, take a look at these posts: How to Get Life from Reading the Bible, How to Eat the Word of God, and What Is the Bible in its Essence.
If you live in the US, you can order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version here.
