This past week I've been thinking about the Bible. More specifically I've been thinking about how Christians are always told they should read the Bible but many don't on a regular basis. Why is that? Here are some common questions I would say most people, even Christians, have surrounding the Bible:
- Is it really necessary?
- It hasn't been updated in nearly two thousand years, is it really relevant to my life today?
- Why read it when I can learn about it every week at church? My pastor usually is able to explain it more clearly then I understand it.
- There is a plethora of Christian music, books, websites, high quality Bible preaching, and teaching available online and television throughout the week. Can’t we learn about God and how to live from these other sources?
- I'm overwhelmed by it. Where would I even start?
I've asked all these questions before, and have used them all as excuses for not opening the Bible. For a long time I only read the Bible because I was supposed to. People always told me to, it's what a good Christian is supposed to do. Obligation and guilt drove my Bible reading.
There are a lot of things we can learn about God without even opening a Bible. Tomorrow I'm going to explore some of these items. Perhaps we'll come to the conclusion that we can learn enough about God from other sources that the Bible is no longer necessary?
If you read the Bible, why do you do it? If not, why not?
Comments