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Why Should We Read the Bible?

It has to be said, the bible is an astounding book or rather, collection of sixty six books and documents. It was written by around 40 different authors over a period of about 1600 years. Within its pages we can read of God's revelation of himself to human beings. God can of course speak to us in many different ways including through the beauty around us, the words of other people, the needs of other people challenging us to make a difference and a myriad of other ways in which our thinking is taken beyond the immediacy of ourselves and the physical aspect of our own being. The bible though is the means by which God specifically addresses the human condition. It tells us of our estrangement from God and also of the way back to him. It tells us what God is like and it tells us how we should respond to him.

For those who do respond to God, i.e. the Christian, the bible is the means by which we grow in our understanding of Him and in our faith, so much so that the bible has been likened to spiritual food, essential for a strong and healthy Christian life. Man cannot live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God' (Matt 4v4).

The bible can be a tremendously exciting book to read, it offers us accounts of love, of war, of murder, of disaster, of infidelity, of loyalty, all set within the context of God and his dealings with people. It is rightfully a best seller!

Reading the bible may at the outset appear to be a daunting task, and indeed it is! Let's face it, not many people want to plough through some of the more difficult passages. It helps a great deal though to use a modern translation. In addition, there are plenty of different ways of approaching bible reading to make it more manageable and enjoyable rather than laborious. To this end it is sensible to use some kind of systematic reading plan and there are many helpful publications available to this end. A method once recommended to me some years ago was to simply read two chapter's from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament every day, by placing three bookmarks, one in Genesis 1, one in Job 1 and one in Matthew 1. Reading one chapter from each every day takes the reader right through the bible in a period of about 18 months. When doing this, it never fails to amaze me how often the words that I read in the bible speak directly into my current situation; surely an affirmation of a New Testament verse: For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword. (Heb 4v12)

As Christians, it is vital that we read the bible, however we must be careful that we do not idolise the book and see knowledge of it as an end in itself. Instead, we should see it as a door into an understanding of the nature of God and our relationship to him. Also, let us remember that whilst the bible continually leads us towards God, that true faith, true Christianity depends not upon passive reading, but an active response.

Learn more about this author, Edward Flynn.
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