Sometimes, we just don’t want to read the Bible.
I have friends, both close and mere acquaintance, who don’t read the Bible. Does that sound so very odd? Well, in the context of our culture, not really. But what about in the context of the church? Still not quite odd, many sit in evangelical pews and sing hymns both old and modern yet neglect their Bibles throughout their busy weeks. Is that so very wrong?
On the surface, it seems a small issue. Reading your Bible does not make you a Christian, and (might I also observe) it does not keep you a Christian. You can find that principle in Galatians 3:2-3 as well as a definition of salvation in Ephesians 2:8-9.
I often struggle with the desire to read Scripture, primarily above my desire to read other books or accomplish “more important” tasks around the house; even a good TV series or the tall grass in the front yard seems to distract me from a daily reading, not to mention actual dig-deep study of the Word. Yet, I say I am a Believer, a Christian. Are we not to be Bereans, faithful readers and students of the Word of God? (See Acts 17:10-12) Why then don’t I want to be a faithful Berean all the time?
Often, I find myself agreeing with Paul when he says he does the things he wishes not to, and doesn’t do the things he wishes to do. See Romans 7:14. I wish I were a fervent student of the word, and instead I often find myself embroiled between six separate books of fiction or history, none of them being the Inspired Word of God.
I am quite adept at living with the guilty feelings on this count. I feel badly, I suppose you might say, that I don’t read the Bible more, or at least more in depth; and yet, I do nothing about those feelings. Feelings are rarely enough to inspire change. In fact, even when they are strong enough they tend to quickly change course and make that which was previously desirable an odious thing. For instance, consider the story of Amnon and Tamar in 2 Samuel 13 (see specifically verses 1-2, 14-15).
Feelings lack the strength to maintain anything except a sense of inconstancy; therefore, feelings will not support a vigorous, continual study of the Word. Other pressing matters will always vie for our attention and feelings. While inconstancy falters before the conviction of the Word, legalism and emotionalism lack the tenacity to produce a desire to continue in Scripture, due to the fact that we see study of the Word as primarily something to finish and check off our list each day. Such an immense task, faced daily, is discouraging to say the least; at worst, we will eventually groan under the weight of a heavy burden such as the Word when we have no desire to turn its pages.
What shall we say to these things?
One of my favorite verses comes from 2 Peter 1. To be precise, it is verse three which states, “His (God’s) divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence . . . “ There are few things so encouraging as hearing that our God has provided us with everything we need to live and to pursue godliness. However, I must confess, I have taken a legalistic, self-centered view of this verse previously. God has not endowed me with this ability to live and be godly in and of myself. No, He has provided me what is needed to do these things, because I clearly have not this ability within myself. Heretofore, I have tended to view that verse as telling me that I, within myself, because of Christ, am now able to be godly in my own right.
Do you see it? There is a partial truth there, which is what causes me/us to stumble so easily.
Christ indeed is the one who worked in me, that is the greatest truth. But the strength to live and walk in godliness still is not my own work. Ephesians 2:10 says that God prepared good works for me (and all Believers) to do beforehand, meaning before I was saved, before I was even born! Earlier I mentioned Galatians 3 which reminds us that that which began by the Spirit will not be perfected by the flesh. In other words, salvation (or justification) which was brought about by God will not be completed in our sin cursed bodies by good works, but rather by the work of the Spirit upon our hearts as He causes growth in sanctification and in wisdom.
This is supremely good news, dear readers! We, in our own strength, are not able to bring about our own sanctification. We cannot even sustain or maintain a deep and regular study of God’s word on our own! But God, in Christ, can cause us to desire to live and walk in godliness. What wonderful news beloved! But, how does He do this? How does He cause sanctification?
Through the knowledge of Him who called us.
Now the question comes to mind, how do we gain knowledge of Him who called us? Read Romans 10:13-17. Verse seventeen specifically points out that hearing (which is the precursor to faith and therefore sanctification) comes from the word of Christ. John 17:17 also answers our question as Jesus prays to the Father for His disciples and the saints who would follow in the millenia to come: the word of God, ultimate truth, sanctifies us. If you’re still not convinced that reading the Bible is the answer, read Proverbs 2:6 and 2 Peter 1:19-21. Knowledge of God and His Son comes through the word; therefore, we must be students of it.
To summarize all that I’ve just explained: God through His word provides all that is needed pertaining to life and godliness. Because salvation and sanctification come through His word, as we’ve seen from Scripture, this means that the Lord will grant within us a growing desire to take in His word because we need it for life and godliness.
We now appear to be back at square one.
“Ah,” you say, “this is all well and good. But what about those feelings you mentioned at the beginning?” Here, my dear reader, is where the rubber meets the road. We’ve established that feelings are strong enough to keep us away from the Word, yet too weak to keep us close. Our conclusion must ultimately be that feelings are not trustworthy or predictable, though they have their uses at times (God did indeed create us to feel things after all). How then do we respond to these feelings? With truth.
Truth trumps feeling regardless of whether or not they agree. Feelings are subjective and therefore cannot dictate our responses, though they can certainly inform us of our heart’s true state in regards to our submission and obedience to the Lord. In this case, we are dealing with feelings that do not align with a full desire to read and study deeply the Word of God. How do we respond with the truth in this specific area? It’s quite simple: we read the Bible anyways.
We have just been faced with a plethora of Scripture that confirms it is the authority on the knowledge of God, salvation, sanctification, life, and godliness. Now we have reached that difficult intersection of the Christian life; that is, the balance Christ’s work within us (His strength for and in us to work out our sanctification) and our necessary response of faith. I have not the theological wherewithal or blog space to develop that quandary. We must simply acknowledge that sanctification is a paradox we can’t fully understand this side of glory. We must step forward in obedience – God will not stand beside us and force us to read His word. However, we have no strength within ourselves to do so and only grow in holiness by His work and effort within us.
Beloved, this then is a call to rest.
Rest? Indeed, rest. If you recall at the beginning of this lengthy blog, I mentioned that we often see studying the Word as a daunting task, a never-ending checklist item. Read Ephesians 5:25-27 and Romans 6:22. There is an end, a goal, a purpose in sanctification, and therefore in reading the Word of God. In Romans 6:22 the word “end” is “telos” in Greek which means, “that by which a thing is finished, its close; final lot, fate”. According to Romans 6 then, the end or finale of sanctification and of our earthly study of Scripture is eternal life (and according to Ephesians that means Christ presenting unto Himself His own bride, the church). Studying our Bibles is not to be considered a task that must be finished for it will not ever be finished on this earth. It is this truth that allows our souls to rest before the Lord.
Do you see the great beauty of this, dear reader? We can rest in the Lord and in our need to study the word of God daily. First of all, we know that Christ will strengthen us as we seek to be obedient and place ourselves under the word each and every day. There will be seasons where the feelings and emotions do not line up with truth. In those times we must press on, confident of the Lord’s promise in 2 Peter 1:3 as I stated earlier. Second, we know that we will never finish studying the word of God this side of eternity so we can read and study as fast or as slow as we need to grasp the majesty of God’s perfection and the fullness of His work. There is no timeline, deadline, or finish line, by which we must have completed our study of the word.
Beloved, we can soak in the word of God and rest in Him regardless of what we feel or how we think about reading Scripture.
Until next time, go read the good book and rest in the Great Author who sanctifies you.
