‘Read your Bible, pray every day.’ the old chorus says, which continues, ‘if you want to grow.’ Dag Hewerd. How do we grow? Does the Bible have the answers to all our questions? Will it solve our problems? Yes and no. The main reason for reading the Bible is not to help solve our problems, nor even to make us better Christians. It is not about us, turn it round. The Bible is to teach us more about God, who He is, what He does. The other benefits will follow; it’s primary benefit is to show us God. It is His way of revelation.
By reading of His dealings with His people, we will learn more about His nature. By learning about His sacrifice for our sins, we learn of His tremendous love towards us. He died for us ‘while we were still sinners.’ Romans 5:8. We learn that God is loving, that He is love. These revelations then teach us how to live, they reveal Him to us. We can’t love unless we learn that God is love. Everything in the Bible leads us back to Him.
Unfortunately we turn everything back to us. I have a friend, who, when I say I’ve done something, immediately caps it with a story of her own. As another chorus says ‘Turn your eyes upon Jesus.’ Helen H Lemmel. Not for what we can get but so we can learn to love Him more.