I read the most disturbing statistic recently. It stated that 80% of Church attending believers do not read their Bible on a daily basis. First, I thanked God for those two out of ten who do, but then I seriously grieved that so many are trying to live out a real faith without the proper tools.
A Spiritual Desire
1 Peter 2:2-3 (NASB) like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
Your faith is like a birth according to Jesus in John 3. New Spiritual Birth IS accompanied by a spiritual desire and a real hunger for more. Often a salvation experience is accompanied by many deep revelations regarding God’s Love for us. Also, the realization of forgiveness is overwhelming for many.
1 John 4:10 demonstrates that God’s Love toward us gives rise to our Love for Him. Love for God begins a journey into Faith, Life, Hope, and Real Love not as mere ideas and feelings, but as experience. The key to this growth is God’s Word. The Bible is a firm foundation to build your life upon. It can be trusted because it is God’s Book and it’s purpose is to reveal God. And God WANTS to reveal Himself to you, but He does it in His own way…
Little by Little, and As Much As You Want!
Isaiah 28:10 (NLT) He tells us everything over and over— one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there!”
Here you can see that God reveals Himself to us little by little. In fact, Jesus made it clear by His explanation of the Manna in the Wilderness, that God gives us our DAILY bread. (Ex 16:4; Deut 8:3; Jn 6:32; Luke 11:3) The coolest thing about the Manna analogy is that the Children could have as much as they wanted! God did not ration the Manna, other than to say, you can have all you want, but you must enjoy it TODAY!
Unfortunately, the statistics say that eight out of ten church attending believers, have no such desire. What does that tell us? Numbers 21:5 tells us of a similar situation in the nation of Israel. They complained about the Bread from Heaven. They didn’t want it because it wasn’t the food they were used to. It wasn’t the food they were comfortable eating back in Egypt. (When they were slaves.)
That’s probably a key reason many find it difficult to spend time in the word. It just isn’t part of their comfort zone. Parts of it are hard to understand. It counters everything we know and the things our culture presents as acceptable behavior. If that is you, be patient. Remember, little by little is how God will reveal Himself to you. But there is a far more dangerous problem…
A Farmer, Some Seeds, and Some Soil.
Matthew 13:18-23 records Jesus explanation of His story regarding four different types of soil. There was a hard packed soil, a soil filled with rocks, one filled with thorns, and one that was prepared and ready to receive the seed. Sometimes our hearts and minds are not ready for God’s amazing Word, and that is a difficult situation to be sure. So in the words of Hosea, “Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord,” (Hosea 10:12)
Lastly, The Bible is a Direct Connect to Our Father.
1 John 2:27 (NLT) But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.
One of the great distractions of our day appears to be a good thing. It is the simple fact that there are so many GOOD Books, Sermons, and Teachers who talk ABOUT the Bible. The problem is that the GOOD should never surrender to the BEST. The Bible reveals God to YOU. All those other books are simply another person’s experience and revelation of God. They are not bad, unless they take the place of the time and energy you need to truly experience God for yourself as revealed in His Word.
1 Peter 1:23 (NLT) For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.