Read My Bible

Introduction

Good evening. Good evening, everyone. I need you to find a Bible. I need you to open to Psalm 19. That’s where we’re starting. Psalm 19, verse 7 is what I need to read. That will undergird what we’re going to talk about in this section of our worship this evening. We have sung about the Bible. I want to talk with you about the Bible. Maybe no better place to do that from than Psalm 19. Let’s read in the Word of God together. David says, the law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandments of the Lord are pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.

The rules of the Lord are righteous altogether. Listen carefully. More to be desired are they than gold. Even much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. I’m so pleased to see you here this evening. Just absolutely delighted to see a whole bunch of folks that I know and know very well. So pleased that you are here. But I know that we’re not here to visit and renew acquaintances and talk about all kinds of funny things that have happened in our past. We’re here to talk about the living word of God. And we’re here to talk about discipleship and what it means to serve the Lord in an effective and powerful way every single day. In that regard, in some ways, this may be the most important lesson in this series because we need to talk about what David’s talking about.

We need to talk about the law of the Lord. We need to talk about the living word of God and its role in our lives every single day. I read a story once of a young couple that got married, and when they got married, Grandpa gave them an expensive Bible. And they kind of looked at that and thought, meh. And put it up in a closet somewhere. But every time they saw grandpa at a family reunion or holidays or Christmas, grandpa would always say, How about that Bible? You like that Bible? What about that Bible? What about that Bible? Finally, they thought there’s something to this Bible thing, and they got in the closet and they dug it out and they opened it up, and as they opened it up, a $20 bill fluttered out from between the pages of every book of the Bible, 66 and all.

They had missed financial riches that grandpa had hidden in the Bible. But even more so, they had missed the spiritual wealth that comes more to be desired, are they than gold? They were missing out on what happens in our lives spiritually when we read God’s word. Americans uniformally will answer all of the questions about the Bible absolutely correctly. More than 84% of Americans will say the Bible is a holy book. Everybody knows you’re supposed to believe the Bible. It’s a great book. It’s a special book. Then you ask the question. You reading that book? When’s the last time you read the Bible outside of a church service? Every study shows unbelievably low numbers of Bible readers. One survey by the Library of Congress said that less than 13% of professing Christians read their Bible daily.

We sing about it, give me the Bible, star of gladness gleaming. We learn how to defend it. If some atheist says it’s not the word of God, bam, it is odd. We’ll talk about that. And we’re always telling people, you ought to read the Bible. And you ought to come to church and you ought to come to Bible class. I’m asking you now, are you reading God’s word on a regular basis as part of your everyday life? Do you regularly spend time in the living word of God? That’s a huge component in everyday discipleship. Now mark it down here. What we’re going to do this evening is not attempt in some way to shout and scream at you and make you feel lousy because you do not read 900 chapters of the Bible today.

Instead of screaming at people, read more Bible. What if instead of that we could create a desire to read the Bible? What if we wanted to read God’s Word? That’s it. That’s what I want to talk about. I want to talk about a commitment to read God’s word every day because that’s what I want to do. And in that regard, as we’re thinking about that, this is it. This is the leverage point for the week. If you want something this week that can provide a dramatic lift in your discipleship, we’re going to talk about that. We’re going to talk about how this week could be much more than just another gospel meeting. But right here, right now tonight, I want to put in your hands the opportunity to make this a break point in your discipleship.

1. Get Rid of All the Excuses

Are you ready for that? In order to create a passion for daily Bible reading, there’s three things we need to do. Regular Bible reading stands on three pillars. The first of which is we will have, we will absolutely have to get rid of all the excuses we use why we’re not reading the Bible. You know that kind of stuff? Oh, Mark, love to read the Bible. Oh, that’s a great thing. I’d love to do that. But you know, I’m so busy. I’m going here and I’m going there, and the kids have got a recital, and then there’s a PTA meeting, and the car’s got a flat, and I’ve got all of this stuff that I’ve got to do. I know about that. I got that. I don’t know anybody who’s just sitting around.

Well, yes, we could read our Bible. Nothing else happening today. Come on. Nobody’s living like that. Everything’s happening all of the time. But what we are talking about is recognizing a fundamental Bible truth. Look in Ephesians 5. Let’s load Ephesians 5 right here. In Ephesians 5, see what Paul says in Ephesians, the fifth chapter about time. When he tells us in Ephesians chapter 5, there, Paul says in verse 15, that we want to look carefully then how we walk, not as unwise, but as wise, because verse 16, we want to make the best use of time because the days are evil. When we talk about being so busy, isn’t it true that sometimes busyness just means we’ve overcommitted ourselves or we’re spending a lot of our time doing things that don’t matter?

If you have questions about that, I can illustrate it for you. Let me just see here. What if I offer you? What if I offer you $50 for every chapter of the Bible you read between now and tomorrow night’s service at seven? How many chapters of the Bible are you reading now? See? See? Thought you were so busy. What if the elders said, everybody who reads the Bible all the way through this year, brand new car? We’re not so busy now, are we? We do what we want. We make time for what we want to do. Why is it that we’ll read the Bible for money or an automobile, and we won’t read the Bible to save our eternal soul? Let’s stop with the busy thing.

Well, Mark, you know, I tried to read the Bible one time. It’s just so difficult. You’ve got to be some kind of Hebrew scholar or something. Have a theological library. I was reading in the Bible there, and there’s this beast coming out of the sea. What do you think his big toe stands for? All the Bible, I just can’t understand it. I certainly know. I certainly realize that there are parts of the Bible that are harder to understand. There’s deep water in the Bible. Peter recognized some of that. I get that. But I also understand that the Bible was written to common people. And the vast majority of what God’s word has for us is easily accessible by any and all of us. I’ll just show you what I’m talking about.

Can you find Proverbs? Look at the book of Proverbs with me. This amazing collection of wisdom in Proverbs. Let’s just try Proverbs 26. In Proverbs 26 and verse 17, this is my favorite proverb. In Proverbs 26 and 17, whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a dog by the ears. Did you have trouble understanding that? I didn’t either. How about in Proverbs 27? What about verse 15? In Proverbs 27 and 15, the wise man says there, a continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike. Did you get that? Who here’s got a wife? No, don’t do that. That’s not good. We understood, didn’t we? If you’re struggling to understand your Bible reading, read Proverbs. Read the Gospels.

You’ll see quickly why we are told the common people heard Jesus gladly. We can understand the Bible if we’ll make an effort. Well, Mark, you know, I read the Bible, but I just don’t remember anything that I read. I just don’t know how it’s doing any good. Goes in one ear and just drips out the other. What’s the whole point of all of that? Okay, I get some of that. But some of that can be addressed by the way we read the Bible. So we’re reading the Bible in our bark a lounger in fifth year. The ball game’s on, we’re surfing, Facebook on our iPad, 3,000 other things are going on. There’s a three-ring circus in our house, and occasionally we’re looking at the Bible, like, oh, yeah, really?

Seriously? We can do better than that if we take seriously our time in the Bible. And as far as remembering what we read, folks, you’re not cramming for a seminary entrance exam. No one’s going to call you. The elders here are not calling to say, I have some questions about today’s daily Bible reading. Your scores haven’t been very good. If you don’t do a little better, we’ll cut you from Bible class. That’s not going to happen. What you need to do, what I need to do is see time in Bible reading, not as an occasion to amass more facts, to know more Bible trivia. That certainly happens as a byproduct of spending time regularly in the Word of God. But that’s not what we’re about. What are we doing when we read the Bible?

We’re spending time with God. That’s what this is about. I’m going to spend time with the Lord. I don’t remember everything my wife says. Ask her. But I still want to spend time with her. Still want to spend time with Dom. And I need to spend time with God. And even if I don’t remember all the details of the passage that I read yesterday, I read that passage, and I was in the presence of God, and I was thinking God’s thoughts after him, and that equipped me to face the world and see this world the way the Lord sees it. That’s what I needed right then. That’s what Bible reading does for us. Well, Mark, you know, you get all fired up about Bible reading y act like this is just the greatest thing ever.

It’s a it’s kind of dry, Mark. You ever read the Bible? It’s a little boring. Oh, come on. What if I told you about a book that had six-finger giants in it, and assassination attempts, and shipwrecks, and wicked women, seduced leading figures? What would you say? Wow, they’re gonna make that into a CSI episode. Can I read it from the red box? What kind of great movie is that? It’s your Bible. The Bible is the greatest literature that’s ever been written, the greatest collection of palms, poetry, heroic epics. It’s all in the Word of God. And even more so. Even those parts of the Bible that are not rivetingly exciting. No one’s making a major motion picture about Leviticus. Even still, those parts of the Bible come from God.

They reveal to us the mind of our Creator, the one that we will stand before and be judged. They tell us what he likes and what he hates, what he approves of and what he desires. The Bible shares with us the very thoughts of God Himself. When we read in that perspective, then all of the Bible is interesting because we want to know the Lord. Oh, Mark. I guess, you know, maybe ought to do some of that. And I’ll tell you, when I feel motivated, that’s it. Going to get this surge of energy, and then amazing things are going to happen. We live in a day when we are completely enslaved to our emotions. For countless centuries, men and women have done the right thing at the right time because it was the right thing to do.

That’s called duty. Doing your duty. What you’re obligated to do and what you want to do, you do it because it’s the thing to do. You do what’s right because it is right. Now we have to wait until this magical feeling encompasses us, and we’re just swept up, and then suddenly we’re, oh, what a bunch of nonsense. The result of all of this is to say, we’re never going to feel like that. Because it’s always a whole lot more fun to play Xbox and Halo. It’s always a whole lot more fun to binge watch 8,000 old episodes of some TV show. It’s always a lot more fun to get on Facebook and look at cute kitty cat videos. It’s always more fun to let the weeds grow in the garden than it is to get in the garden and get those out of there.

2. Focus on the Benefits of Reading God's Word

And the result of that attitude is we’ve got some pretty weedy disciples. Do you understand what I’m saying? It’s not about fun. And life isn’t about what is fun. It’s about knowing the Lord and serving God. That’s what we’re talking about. Grab Psalm 119. Look at Psalm 119. Because the second step of reading your Bible on a regular basis, once we’ve got rid of these lame excuses, is for us to focus on the benefits of reading God’s word. We do what we want to do. And when we see what God’s word can do for us, it creates a desire in our lives. Can you look at Psalm 119105, please? In Psalm 119, I’m reading there in verse 105. There the Bible says, your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

Anyone own a flashlight? Flashlights are awesome. I have an amazing collection of flashlights, and I always want more. Because flashlights are cool, especially when you are in the dark. I hunt a lot, and I’ve never been lost, not ever, not even once, but occasionally the camp wasn’t where I left it. And once when I was hunting on a moonless night, I realized I had no clue where I was on the face of the planet in relationship to anything else. And I got out a flashlight, a powerful flashlight, and began to shine that around. And I picked out some landmarks, and I realized there’s that tree. There’s that hill. That’s where I need to go. It wasn’t long, and I walked into camp. A flashlight has great benefit.

There’s a powerful help when you have a lamp unto your feet. So I know we live in a time when nobody wants to do anything unless it’s really fun. I saw a bumper sticker that said if it’s not fun, why do it? But somewhere in all of this, we need to realize everything isn’t about fun. That sometimes we do things that are not amazingly fun because they are good for us like a flashlight in the dark. They provide a benefit. Think about for example think about exercise. Exercise, okay, most people do not enjoy exercising. There are some folks who just get this big thrill out of exercising. Those people should be shot most of us don’t really enjoy but we do enjoy what we enjoy being able to climb a flight of stairs without being windued.

We love being able to fit into a pair of pants that we haven’t been able to fit into in 25 years. We love the feeling of self-control that second marshmallow that comes when we discipline ourselves we love all of that. So even though that isn’t fun, we do that in the same way I’m not going to tell you this evening that reading your Bible is amazing fun. And it’s greater than playing Xbox or watching television or watching the ballgame. No, it’s not like that at all. But it does provide a benefit a powerful benefit. For example, when you read your Bible, you come to know the Lord better. People talk about seeing God in creation. That’s absolutely true. That’s one of the reasons I hunt.

Sunrise over lake, getting ready for the ducks to fly is an incredible, still and special moment. Seeing lots of great things in creation. And there are some things that we know about God from creation. But you will not ever understand the holiness of God from sitting on a stump. You’re never going to know that you need to be baptized for the remission of your sins because you’re standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon. You want to know the Lord? You’ll have to read his book. That’s the bottom line. It is his chief channel of communication. It has always been so. God is a God of His Word. That starts in the garden. Watch it all the way through the Bible. God speaks. God tells, God sends preachers, God is a speaking God.

And that speech has been recorded in his word so that we could know the Lord. That’s not all. You get more. What about temptation? What about dealing with temptation? How did Jesus handle temptation? In Luke 4 and Matthew 4, they’re the dual records of Jesus being tempted by the devil. Three times the devil presents temptation to Jesus. What does Jesus do with that every single time? It is written. Question. You got a better way of dealing with temptation than Jesus does. You think you have a better plan than the Lord? That seems like a really good way of handling temptation, since that’s the way Jesus did it. Of course, what we’re really saying here is if I read God’s word, I’m going to grow as a Christian.

I’m going to grow as a child of God. Think about it now. Where do you want to be? Where do you want to be as a Christian in five years? Thought about that? You need to think about that. Let’s think about that. Five years, what are you going to be? Somebody says, Well, five years, I’d really like to be I’d like to be an elder. I’d like to prepare my character and serve this flock in a way that people are saying, He needs to be one of our shepherds. Maybe some of you are thinking, five years I want to be a Bible class teacher. Be able to teach the Word of God. Some of these kids teach the Word of God to adults. I want to be a Bible class teacher.

Some of you are thinking, in five years, I just would like to be a stable Christian. It’s so hard. I feel like I start and then I failed and then I start and then I fail. I just wish that I could start kind of piecing it together and having more good days than bad days. Whatever your goal is, can I ask you this? How are you going to get there? What’s your plan to get from point A to point B so that in five years when somebody’s standing here and they’re preaching away and they’re talking about what do you want to be in five years? You’re not just still at zero and you haven’t moved at all. What’s your plan? I preach about Bible reading a lot.

At West Side where I preach, we do all kinds of things to help the congregation stay with and be involved in daily Bible reading. It’s the most daily Bible reading this church I’ve ever been a part of. It’s incredible. So I talk to people a lot about daily Bible reading. I was preaching about daily Bible reading, and an elder came and talked to me. He told me that years earlier, in the early 1970s, a preacher had come and talked about the importance of daily Bible reading, and he said, I’m going to do that. That’s right, and I’m going to do it. He looked at me and he said, I’m not bragging, but I did. I’ve read my Bible every day since then, with very few exceptions.

Then he looked at me and he said, I cannot believe how it remolded and changed and grew me. I never thought I’d be an elder in the people of God. But I am. Because God’s word is powerful. And it changed me and fixed me and made me repent and grow and change and stretch. And now I’m an elder. That was it. For that man, that point in time, that gospel meeting wasn’t just another gospel meeting. It was the moment when he hit lift off and got serious with God and got serious with being a disciple. And the way that played out was he said, I will read my Bible. And when he began to read his Bible every day, he grew and grew and grew. And I’m saying to you this evening, that could be you.

3. You'll Need a Plan

That could be you right here, right now. You could mark this place and say, I remember Decker Prairie. I decided that’s it, I’m doing it. I’m going to read my Bible. 10 years from now, 20 years from now. Where will you be in the kingdom of God? If this is the place where you say, enough with the lame excuses, I want the benefits, I’m reading God’s word. If you’re going to do that, you’ll need, thirdly, you’ll need a plan. How does daily Bible reading work? What do we need to do to make that fly? What we’re going to do is we’re going to read our Bibles for 20 minutes. Twenty minutes a day, that’s all it takes. But it’s a very important and powerful 20 minutes.

There is a place, don’t panic. There is a place for deeper Bible study, longer Bible study. But we’re talking about regular daily time with God in God’s word. You need about 20 minutes. Here’s how we’re going to make it go. In our time, we’re going to start with a desire to learn. This is what I call the intentional learner concept. We’re not going to read our Bible to get a passage to beat up our religious neighbor with. We are not reading our Bible to fill in the blanks and the workbook in case I get called on in Bible class. We are reading the Bible because we want to know the Lord and we want to know his will. Look in Mark chapter 3 with me, please.

In Mark chapter 3, this is such a powerful idea. In Mark, it’s actually 4. Let me shift over to 4. In Mark 4. If you’ll look at Mark 4, those first nine verses, in Mark 4, 1 to 9, Jesus tells the parable of the sower. And there were a lot of people who heard Jesus that day. And a lot of people went home from hearing Jesus and they said, Hey, what’d you do today? I went and heard that new rabbi from Nazareth. Really? How was that? I don’t know. It was weird. He was telling like a farming story or something. I didn’t get it. I don’t know what that was about. But there were people who went home that day and said, that’s the greatest thing I’ve ever heard.

Spiritual truth. He was unlocking the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. You know what the difference was? What was the difference in the people who got it and the people who didn’t get it? Look at Mark 4 10. Mark 4, verse 10. When he was alone, those around him with the 12 asked him about the parable. That’s it. I want to know. Lord, I want to know. I’m not getting a passage here that I’m going to strap on my neighbor or use to kick around my wife or my kids. I want to know your will. I’m seeing what you have to say through your word today that’s going to speak to my life and call me to repentance and better discipleship. I want to know your will, God.

That’s the beginning of this. And of course, a huge part of that is what? Gotta pray. Gotta pray. We’re gonna start in prayer. We’re gonna say, Lord, I’m here to read your word. Bless me to learn what you are saying today through your living and abiding word for my life. As we’re doing that, what do we got to do? We’ve got to make this into a regular habit. We’ve got to make this into a regular habit. Nothing of value ever gets accomplished when we do a little bit of this, a little bit of that, we’re over here, we’re over there, and we’re not consistent. You know people who diet like that? You know anybody like that? One day they’re totally eating celery, and the next day they’re devouring everything.

When I was in high school, when I was in high school, I worked in an ice cream farmer, Swinson’s ice cream parlor. Wonderful ice cream. And we had on our menu a menu item called the earthquake. The earthquake consisted of eight scoops of ice cream. We prided ourselves on quarter pound scoops. That’s a lot of ice cream. You do the math, I’m a preacher. So we’d have eight scoops of ice cream, and then we had eight different toppings and a whole can of whipped cream. It was the kind of thing that a whole family would come in and we’d bring like 17 spoons and they’d all devour. And every Tuesday, two sisters of rather large dimensions would come in, and they would each order an earthquake.

And they would carefully go down the list of what flavors of ice cream we’re having today and what topping to put on, and they would work it all down, and they would make you read their order back, and they would go all through this and say, earthquake, and then they would say, I’ll never forget it, and a diet coke. Get you some sweet tea. Just go for it.