This is the second in our sermon series “Spring Training.” Just as an athlete needs to do certain things to keep himself or herself in good physical shape, as Christians there are certain things we need to do to keep ourselves in good spiritual shape. These things, these exercises we do to keep ourselves in spiritual shape, are called spiritual disciplines. Last week, we talked about the spiritual discipline of worship. Today, we'll talk about the spiritual discipline of Bible reading.
If I wanted to, I could put everyone on the spot and ask you whether you read the Bible every day. I won't do that. I'm sure, if I did, there are some here who could honestly say that they do read the Bible every day. I'm sure there are others who read the Bible sometimes. And there are probably others who almost never read the Bible.
Now, I'm not saying that in a judgmental way. God never said we have to read the Bible every day to go to heaven. I'm not bringing this up because I want to make anybody feel guilty about everything. Before I became a pastor, I did not read the Bible every day, either. Now, of course, I have to read the Bible a lot because of what I do. Still, there are sometimes days when I get busy doing other stuff and I don't. I'm not trying to make excuses for myself by saying that. I'm just being honest.
Most of us, even if we don't read the Bible every day, would agree that it's a good idea. It's something most of us know we should do. But a lot of us don't. Why not?
It's not because of a lack of availability. The Bible is more available than it's ever been. We can go on a website like biblegateway.com and get forty-five different versions of it for free. We can get the Bible on our laptop, on our tablet, on our smart phone. There may be reasons why we don't read the Bible, but lack of availability is not one of them.
One reason we've used is that the language is hard to understand. That used to be the case, but it really is not any more. As I said, the Bible comes in all kinds of different versions. We can read it in any sort of language we want. We can read it in traditional language and we can read it in contemporary language. We can read it with footnotes. We can read it with study guides. We can read it with stories that explain it. Now, there are still things in the Bible that we don't necessarily understand, but we can certainly understand the words. The language being hard to understand is really not a reason we can use to avoid the Bible, either.
Another reason we use for not reading the Bible is that we don't have time. I know I've used that many times. We're busy people. We've got a lot of things to do. We know we really should read the Bible, but we just really don't have time to do it.
But you know, that's really not a good reason. I mean, a lot of us are busy people. I'm not denying that. But still, we tend to make time for the things we really want to do. Think about it. We can have a hundred things we need to do, but if something else comes along that we really want to do, we'll make time to do it. I'm like that. I'll bet you are, too. If there's something we really think will be enjoyable, if there's something we really think will be meaningful, if there's something we really think will be important to do, we'll make time to do it, no matter how many other things we have to do.
That brings me to the real reason most of us don't read the Bible regularly. We really just don't want to. We don't think we'll enjoy it, we don't think we'll get much out of it, and we really don't think it's all that important, anyway. We'd never say it that way, but deep down, if we're honest with ourselves, that's how we feel. So, when we look at all the things we have to do, we put reading the Bible at the bottom of the list, and we don't do it.
And again, I don't want anyone to think I'm pointing fingers here. Before I became a pastor, I was exactly the same way. And even now, when I am a pastor, if I have some time off and don't have to read the Bible for my work, reading the Bible tends to get pushed to the bottom of my list. It becomes the thing I'll do if I get a bunch of other things done first.
So the question is, why is that? Because until we change that attitude, we're never really going to get into the Bible. No matter how much we try to force ourselves, no matter how much we might know we should do it, no matter how much we feel guilty for not doing it, we're never going to start reading the Bible unless we want to do it, and we're never going to want to do it unless start to feel that it is something that's enjoyable, and meaningful, and important. So why is it that we feel the way we do, and what is it that'll make us want to change?
Well, if I had the answer to that I could get elected bishop. I mean, seriously, if I knew a way that could get everybody to want to read the Bible every day, I might even go higher than bishop. I might get elected the next pope, even though I'm not Catholic. Pastors and churches have been trying to get people to read the Bible regularly for years. I'm not going to be able to come up with the answer today.
Here's something to think about, though. What if we knew that God had a message that was specifically for us, for you and for me? What if we knew God had something to tell each one of us? What if we knew that message was written down somewhere, and all we had to do was find it and read it, and we'd have something that God wrote especially for us, for you and for me? Something that would help us understand life better, to help us understand how to live better, something that just would help us get through life easier, with less worry and less fear? What would we do?
We'd do everything you could to find that message, right? We'd go anywhere we had to go. We'd do anything we had to do. I mean, if I truly believed that the almighty, all-knowing, everlasting God had written a message specifically for me, I'd do whatever I had to do to find it.
The thing is, we already have that message, because that's what the Bible really is. This is what the Apostle Paul wrote to his friend, Timothy, to explain the purpose of the Bible:
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that all God’s people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
All scripture is God-breathed. All scripture comes from the mouth, the heart, the very soul of God. God specifically gave it to each of us. The Bible is, in fact, God's message for each of us.
And then, here I am saying I don't have time to read it. Here I am saying I don't think I'd get much out of it. Here I am saying I don't think it's very important for me to read it. A message straight from the mouth, the heart, the soul of God, and I say I cannot even be bothered to pick it up unless I have to do it for my work.
We'll, I don't know how you're feeling right now, but I can tell you that when this thought came to me, and I wrote it down, it did not make me feel very good. It made me wonder just who I think I am, that I'm telling God I don't think God's message to me is very important. So, I've decided I'm going to change that. I am going to start making sure I read the Bible every day. And I'm not going to just read it for what I have to do to put sermons together. I'm going to read all of the Bible, starting from Genesis and going through Revelation. I've done that before—in fact, I had to while I was in seminary—but I'm going to do it again.
Now, that's kind of a big job. It may take me quite a while to get it done. And I'm not saying that's how you should do it. It's kind of intimidating, and frankly, there are parts of the Bible that are kind of boring. If you don't want to read the Bible cover to cover, that's okay. There are lots of other ways to read the Bible.
Each week, we read at least one set of Bible verses, usually more, plus a psalm. You can start with those. On the back of the bulletin are the lectionary readings for the week. You can start with those. Every morning on our parish facebook page we put a scripture of the day. You can start with that. There are lots of other places you can get a scripture of the day or of the week: books, magazines, websites, the list goes on an on. You can start with those. Any way you choose to start reading the Bible is a good way to start.
Again, nowhere does God say we have to read the Bible every day to get to heaven. That's not the point. The point is that God has given each one of us a message. It's a message that was written specially for us. It's a message that will help us understand life better, a message that will help us understand how to live better, a message that will help us get through life better, without worry and fear. It's not a message that God gave us as a burden. It's a message God gave us to help us.
So, as we look at exercises we can do to get ourselves into spiritual shape, let's start reading the Bible regularly. We just might find that it'll get us into better shape than we ever dreamed possible.
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