10 Reasons I Love to Read the Bible

Psalm 119:105

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”

Today is Valentine’s Day. Around the world poems will be written in celebration of romantic love. I hope you get one. But I doubt anyone will write a Valentine’s poem for the Bible.

I revisited a poem today that is exactly that – a 3000 year old celebration of God’s words – Psalm 119. Someone worked very hard to design this. The 176 verses form an acrostic using all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in groups of 8. It is a labour of love and genius.

I’m no poet! Ask my wife. So instead of lyrical verse, I will offer a list to celebrate my love for God’s words. Here are my 10 top reasons for reading, reflecting, blogging about, and engaging with, the good book.

I love my Bible because …

1. It loves me. I liked a girl in High School who never liked me back. It ended! I wrote to a pen pal who never wrote back. It ended! But I read the Bible and it gives back. It loves me. That is why I keep reading it and why I choose to blog about it. The more I invest in reading and studying the Bible the more it yields. In my experience “Scripture is God-breathed”, it lives and it loves. (2 Timothy 3:16)

2. It feeds what is good about me and attacks what is vile. It is tonic for my character. The Bible confronts my weaknesses and remolds me. It inflates my best self with a breath (Spirit) that is not my own. Any particle of the Bible that I hide away in my thinking can change me for the good. (Psalm 119:11, 133)

3. It expands my capacity. Because I read the Bible I am wiser, more compassionate, better equipped to lead, and more focused in what I do. This is not a boast; it is an admission of what I would be without God’s gift. Years of reading expand the mind and fuel healthy aspirations. (2 Timothy 3:15).

4. It fosters a relationship I do not deserve. The Bible is God’s dialogue with me. A friendship is forged from the substance of its pages. I experience forgiveness and spirit infilling as I read. Some mornings I feel like an Emmaus Road traveler – my “heart burns within” while he talks with me and “opens the Scriptures” to me? (Luke 24:32)

5. It is useful. I have a business consultant friend who says that all his best material comes from the Bible. I know a counselor who uses her Bible knowledge in her professional career to achieve profound results with clients. My experience is the same, it lights my path. (2 Timothy 3:16)

6. It surprises me (in a good way) again and again. The Bible is about everything. It discusses philosophy and miracles, nations and character, love and death, spirit and pain, angels and sex. Everything is here, it is a fruit salad. What is more, the Bible has incredible depth. I can read an old verse on a new day and find things I never noticed before. Each chapter is like the face of a close friend, it doesn’t change, but then, it is never quite the same either.

7. It grows my hope. I listen to a short news cast each morning. Rarely does this lift my spirits. My Bible reading, on the other hand, allows me to see the world differently. As I slow down and think about what I am reading it lifts my hopes and changes my perspective. (Rom 15:4)  

8. It is brilliant literature. For generations it has inspired song writers, poets, politicians, educators, entrepreneurs and artists. Even if I didn’t think it was true, the Bible would still be valuable as a work of artistry. Its beauty feeds my spirit.

9. It connects me with the cosmic, the eternal and the supernatural. The Bible tells a BIG story. The cast includes angels and the geography contains a Heavenly City. Always, the Bible presents a view of reality beyond what ears and eyes can grasp. Those who read it, like those who wrote it, are often “carried along by the Holy Spirit”. Who knows where this Wind will take me. (2 Peter 1:20, 21)

10. It answers the Black-Eyed Peas. I can’t commend everything they perform, but I do enjoy the song “Where is the Love?” The lyrics (2003) ask a question that resonated with Aussies pushing the song to #1. If you are really looking for an answer, spend some time exploring the Bible. It tells us where the love is! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpYeekQkAdc

You will have additional reasons for reading the Bible. My hope in blogging is to stir up enthusiasm for God’s word and inspire others to read, reflect and obey the Bible. So, share your reasons with me.

Questions

• Do you have a favorite verse? I would love to hear your comments.
• If you enjoy reading the bible, what reasons would you give?