I love God’s Word and I read it almost every single day. I can honestly say that I have read the whole Bible through many times over the years, and God still surprises me when I read it.
I challenge you to read the Bible through in one year. It may be hard at first, but by the end you will be so glad that you did. You can download a free one-year reading plan here.
So let’s look at the reasons why you should do it. I especially encourage you to do it if you are a new Christian or if you have come back to God after being away for a while.
1. You Get to Know God
For me this the best reason of all. There are two ways to get to know God: through His Word and through your experiences with Him. The thing is, the Word of God is the absolute authority on who God is, so you must always base your experiences on what the Scriptures say. So if you experience something but can’t confirm it in the Word of God, or if the experience contradicts the Word of God, then you can know for a fact that it wasn’t God.
So not only do you get to know who God is by reading His Word, but you also have a true foundation to base any experience on. I love this verse about the Bereans in Acts 17:11: “…they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” These people received Christ into their hearts, but then every day went to the Word of God to learn more about Him and to confirm that what they were learning was truth.
2. It Helps you Understand other Scriptures
It is very easy to take one Scripture out of context and make it say what you want it to say. That is what cults do. They take a few Scriptures and twist it to get people to follow them and then over time they completely change it to what they want it to say, and by then you are trapped.
You must base any Scripture on what the rest of Scriptures say. That is why it is so important to read the whole Bible and not just parts of it. You need to read both the Old and New Testaments to completely understand how everything works.
The other thing is that when you are first reading the Scriptures it can be confusing and you will find things that you don’t understand. Reading all of the Bible in a year will help answer some of those questions because they are covered in other parts of the Bible.
3. It Helps you in Any Situation
Not only do we get to know God through His Word, but we can trust His Word to help us and guide us in any situation. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” God loves to show us things through His Word.
God’s Word “is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12a). It is not an outdated book. It is something that you can use every day because it still applies to our lives.
So many times I have not known what to do and then when I read His Word the answer is right there. The great thing is that you can trust God’s Word. It is truth and will never steer you wrong.
4. You Learn how to Worship and Pray
I know that when I first became a Christian I really wanted to know how to pray and worship God. I would listen to other people’s prayers and they sounded so good while mine sounded so juvenile. As I read the Bible I learned how other people prayed and worshipped and I started to use their words because they applied to my situation.
I also came to realize that there is no one way to pray and that there are no perfect words to say; that God wanted to hear my heart. He didn’t want some fancy words, He wanted to hear what I had to say.
One great Scripture that shows this is Luke 18:10-14 where Jesus tells a story about a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee prayed a boastful prayer, telling God about all his good deeds. The tax collector prayed in humility, saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (v13). Jesus said that the tax collector, and not the Pharisee, went away justified in the sight of God.
The tax collector didn’t have fancy words, but was honest with God; and not only did God hear his prayer, but He answered him and forgave him and set him free.
5. It Gives you Strength and Encouragement
Everyone needs strength to be able to live victoriously in this world and one of the best places to get it is God’s Word. Here is one Scripture that I have been focusing on that helps keep me strong when things get hard.
1 I will love You, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
2 My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold…
34 It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect…
36 He teaches my hands to make war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
– Psalm 18: 1-2, 32, 34
One thing that always encourages me in the Scriptures is reading about what others have gone through and how God helped them to get through it. It helps me to trust in God and know that He is in control, and that He holds me in the palm of His hand and will not let me go.
Are you hungry for God? Then read His Word. There is nothing on this earth that will satisfy you more than God, and one of the best ways to get to know God is through His Word, His love letter to us.
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