There is an ancient story about some travelers traveling by camel through the desert. As night drew near they heard a mysterious voice say to pick up some pebbles and put it in their pockets and in the morning they would be both happy and sad. So the men did. In the morning, eager to check their pockets, they discovered that there were diamonds, gems, and rubies! What the voice said was true. The men were both happy and sad. They were happy because they had picked up some jewels, but sad because they wished they had picked up more.
The same is true about the word of God. When all is said and done we will be happy that we had the word of God, but unhappy that we didn't glean more from it.
Do you carve out time to read the Bible? Do you consider His word to be precious, held in high regard, and honored?
Matthew 13:44 says this, "The kingdom of heaven is like something precious buried in a field, which a man found and hid again; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field." Part (a BIG part) of pursuing the kingdom of heaven is by reading the Bible. This scripture shows us just how precious and treasured the kingdom of heaven is, and God's word is how we seek out God's kingdom.
Are you too busy to find time to read the Bible? Then, with all due respect, things need to get prioritized in your schedule to set aside time for the Bible. Think of the vital need of His word.- Deuteronomy 8:3 says "man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord." It looks like God's word is VITAL to our spiritual health. Think of all we're up against- our threefold enemy: the world, our flesh, and the devil. Ephesians 6 says the word is our sword in our battle against Satan. Looks like we certainly NEED the Bible- every day!
Can I challenge you? Can I challenge you to give 20 minutes to Bible reading a day? Think of how much time is spent scrolling through social media?? I think that challenge is possible, don't you!?
Jesus is called the Word (John 1:1). Think about that for a moment. In Greek the word Logos means expressing the thoughts of the Father through the Spirit. This is what is going on when we read the Bible. We are encountering the thoughts of the Father- wow! What can be better than that?
If reading the Bible doesn't sound like the most exciting thing in the world, then recognize that that's because the things of the Spirit don't come natural to the flesh. What I mean is naturally, we don't seek after God. But when we become born again, we hunger and thirst for righteousness. Like a newborn baby thirsts for milk, let us who are born again thirst for the word of God. And pray. Pray to make His word something you crave. Pray that the discipline of seeking after His Kingdom through His word would become habit.
I am creating a new product to help you get into God's word. My hope is that this tool will help you set aside time in His word, memorize scripture, and understand His word more deeply. Stay tuned for a video releasing this new product.
God Bless,
Akiko