One of my friends, here in France, often states his conviction (with which I happen to agree!) that the church in the "west" is dying from ignorance. He is, of course, using the word 'ignorance' according to its true definition - lack of knowledge - and the ignorance to which he refers is ignorance of the written Word of God, the Bible. Why should this be the case, And how might it be remedied?
I believe that the answer to the first question is that the Bible is not being read by those who claim to be disciples of Jesus. There are far too many who only read their Bible at a morning worship service on Sundays - and ignore it for the rest of the week. Yet if it were to be suggested that they have only one meal on Sunday, and nothing until the following Sunday, the same people would throw up their hands in horror!
So the answer to the second question is: Read your Bible regularly - on a daily basis. And don't just read - think as you do so; pray that God the Holy Spirit will help you to see, in that Word, something that you have never seen before. Use those words of the psalmist: "Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law." (Ps 119:18). One of the things that constantly convinces me that the Bible is a living Word is the very fact that I can read a passage for the umpteenth time, and suddenly notice something that I had never noticed before! Obtain some good Bible reading notes to stimulate your thinking. This site will provide some guidance to the various options available.
In addition, if you live within travelling distance of a Christian Bookshop (e.g. the GLO Bookshop in Motherwell, or the Faith Mission Bookshops in various parts of Scotland) you will receive good advice there.
Of course, there will be those who will say that they simply don't like reading! I understand. Someone very close to me has this precise problem! That is where the carrots come in. When my younger daughter was very small, she did not like carrots. Try as we would, my wife and I were unable to persuade her to eat up the carrots on her plate. So we came at the situation from another angle. We managed to get her to eat one - yes, just one - slice of carrot. And we let her know that we were pleased that she had done so. After a short time, we succeeded in having her eat two slices. After all, that was only one slice more, and she knew that she could manage one slice. The number of slices was gradually increased, and she now eats a full portion as easily as anyone else!
May I suggest that, if you are not a 'natural reader', then you start with a short portion of the Word, and then gradually build up the length of the passage you read. Remember that a number of the Biblical books, especially in the New Testament, were written as letters - and who receives a letter (or an e-mail, etc.) and read just a few lines before putting it down until the next day/week/month?
The Bible is the Word of Almighty God to the world. As such, it is of paramount importance that it is read - especially by those who claim to have been born again, and to be disciples of Jesus. Writing to his "son in the faith" the young pastor Timothy, the aged apostle Paul had this to say: "... continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man (or woman!) of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." (II Tim 3:14-17). The scripture to which Paul referred was, of course, what many of us know as the Old Testament. However, the same may be said of the writings of the New Testament. The whole of the Bible is given that we may know its divine Author more fully, and be able to serve Him more effectively. I commend it to you!
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