Bible Feeding or Bible Famished
What’s Your Bible to You?
The Bible is a somewhat enigmatic book. Actually, the Bible is fine, but the way we treat it is often perplexing.
The Bible is held in high regard, theoretically, yet treated as unimportant in reality. We’ll look at it when we get around to it. We’ll make time for it when more urgent matters are attended to.
The Bible is respected in principle, but disrespected in practice. There are places around the world where men and women can only dream of having a Bible while, in the West, it’s just not that important. I have been in churches where a person can be a member in good standing and not even own a Bible, much less read it at home or bring it to church with them.
The Statistics
I was reviewing a study this week about how much time professed believers spend reading the Bible. Even acknowledging that not everyone who wears the name “Christian” is a Christian (which is why I rarely use that near-meaningless term), the research statistics are such a head-wagger. Research data from Barna Group, Pew Research Center, and Lifeway Research, focusing just on the United States, reveal that a mere ten to eleven percent of professing Christians spend any time in their Bibles on a daily basis. An additional nineteen to twenty-four percent read it once a week, probably on Sundays while at church.
The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
– Psalm 19:7-11, ESV
A similar study by the Center for Bible Engagement establishes that believers who engage with scripture four or more times a week have quantifiably different lives than those who do not. Surveying upwards of 100,000 individuals, aged eight to eighty, the study found that engagement with scripture does not operate on a linear scale.
Believers who engaged scripture four or more times each week had:
- Lower rates of self-destructive behavior and moral failure, such as:
- Viewing pornography
- Alcoholism
- Sexual infidelity
- Bursts of anger
- Improved emotional health and resilience, such as:
- Struggles with bitterness
- Destructive self-thoughts
- Feelings of loneliness
- Difficulty forgiving others
- Spiritual stagnation
- Higher spikes in active spiritual practices, such as:
- Financial generosity
- Memorizing Scripture
- Discipling others
- Sharing their faith with non-believers
Active, Not Passive
The results listed above do not surprise me in the least. They are expected because the Logos of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.1 Regular encounters with the Logos, through Bible study, cannot but result in life-altering encounters.
From day one, new Christ-followers crave the pure spiritual milk of the word. It is the nutrition by which we grow up into salvation, having tasted that the Lord is good.2 As we grow and mature, we move on to the meat of the Word, consumed by those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.3 Through regular consumption, the precepts of God become sweet to the taste, sweeter than honey to the tongue.4 The Word is a lamp to our feet and the light of our pathway.5 Being saturated in the truth of God’s Word, we come to hate every false way.6
Promoted by Jesus
Even Jesus, God incarnate, knew that that man does not live by bread alone but, rather, man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Yahweh.7 As Jesus is Yahweh in the flesh, his words become exceedingly important. While ministering to students at Kansas University, I often encouraged them to “live in the red letters.” I’m not downplaying the rest of the scriptural canon, but emphasizing that we find life in the words of Jesus. Just as he said, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”8
Jesus encouraged that we spread the seed of the word of God, knowing that some of it will fall on good soil, take root and grow.9 As the apostle Peter said, we have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.10
Wise for Salvation and Sanctification
There never has been, and never will be a time when Scripture is useless or irrelevant. From early childhood till we are resting in our graves, scripture applies. Speaking to young Timothy, the apostle Paul reminded him of the way his grandmother and mother passed their faith down to him.
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
– 2 Timothy 3:14-15, ESV
And those same scriptures will equip each of us for every good work throughout our lives.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
– 2 Timothy 3:16-17, ESV
As Christ-followers, our best resource for understanding the character and will of God is our Bible. The collection of writings it contains serve as the primary revelation of God’s nature, his attributes, and his unbreakable promises, providing clear guidance on how he has called us to live. If you want some helpful materials for getting started on more meaningful Bible study, I will list a few below. These are tools to assist you, not replacements for your own study.
Study Helps
- The Bible Project
Beginning in 2014, Timothy Mackie and Jonathan Collins (Portland, OR) launched the crowdfunded BibleProject to offer free educational resources to help people understand the Bible.
- The Bible Project
The Bible Recap is a structured, 365-day, chronological Bible reading plan with short, daily recap podcasts, hosted by Tara-Leigh Cobble. The recaps summarize each day’s Bible reading in an easy-to-understand fashion. Recaps are available via podcast, video, book form, and on the Devotional Tab of the Bible app. This is also a free resource.
- How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth
Now in its fourth printing, this book was required reading when I was a student at Harding University. It is an outstanding resource, and one I cannot recommend strongly enough.
1. Hebrews 4:12
2. 1 Peter 2:2-3
3. Hebrews 5:14
4. Psalm 119:103
5. Psalm 119:105
6. Psalm 119:104
7. Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4
8. John 6:63
9. Luke 8:4-15
10. 1 Peter 1:23
