Reading the Bible

Devotionals > Reading the Bible

Reading the Bible

December 27, 2016

TODAY'S BIBLE READING:

yes. Consider the great promise of Joshua 1:8-9:

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.

Consider that promise—the one-to-one correlation (all other things being equal) between the practice of at least daily reading of the Bible with attention to its commands and the blessing of God now forever—and act upon it. There are many online tools to help you read the Bible. There are books to help you know how to read The Book. This year make it your practice to read the Bible each day. Here’s how to do it. Pick a book of the Bible. Don’t make it Chronicles. All Scripture is God-breathed, but some of it is harder to chew than other parts. Read something like Philippians or Ephesians. Read the section of the Bible that is marked out as one paragraph in a modern translation. Ask yourself first what does it say, then what does it mean, and then only finally what does it mean for you. Then pray in what you have heard, asking God to help you love him more, obey him in this area of your life, tell your friends about Jesus, or whatever it is that God has just spoken to you about from his Word. And make a commitment, a regular daily commitment, to read the Bible this year. You might choose a Bible reading plan to read through the entire Bible in a year. I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I can guarantee you this: you will not regret it. To receive daily devotions in your inbox from God Centered Life in 2018, beginning January 1, sign up here. This article, slightly modified, was first written for Evangelicals Now and published in their January 2016 news publication.]]>

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Josh Moody (Ph.D., University of Cambridge) is the senior pastor of College Church in Wheaton, IL., president and founder of God Centered Life Ministries, and author of several books including How the Bible Can Change Your Life and John 1-12 For You.

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