READ IT!

WORK THESE WORDS INTO YOUR LIFE // A BLOG SERIES // PART 2

“The Holy Scriptures are our letters from home.” —St. Augustine

“The Bible is the book of my life. It’s the book I live with, the book I live by, the book I want to die by.” —N. T. Wright

“You Christians look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilization to pieces, turn the world upside down and bring peace to a battle-torn planet. But you treat it as though it is nothing more than a piece of literature.” ―Mahatma Gandhi

Revelation 1:3 contains an incredible promise. 

“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” —Rev 1:3 NIV

Did you know that God thought the regular, consistent READING of His Word was so important that He gave the following directives to Israel for future kings and leaders? 

“When [the future king] sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. ¹⁹ He must always keep that copy with him and READ IT DAILY as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. ²⁰ This REGULAR READING will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel.” —Deut 17:18-20 NLT

Those three verses are packed with promises! God said that reading His Word daily will: 

• cultivate reverence in the life of the reader, 
• inspire a person to obey and honor God in their attitudes and actions, 
• serve as a preventative against pride and help a person develop humility. 
• it will help you keep your life on track and on course, and, 
• it will insure future blessing and prosperity. 

God was so serious about future LEADERS in Israel being shaped and formed by the Word of God that He said, “When you eventually get a king, this is the protocol I want kings and leaders to follow…” 

• WRITE your own PERSONAL COPY of my WORD in the presence of a Levitical priest. 

A priest was present for the purpose of ACCOUNTABILITY. Because a future leader might read something that he would rather not transcribe, the priest was there to make certain that nothing was omitted… Everything made it into that copy.  

• Always KEEP that PERSONAL COPY of God’s Word WITH YOU! 

This was meant to remind you that you were absolutely dependent upon the Word of God for life and leadership. 

Jesus would later say it like this: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on EVERY WORD that comes from the MOUTH of GOD.” —Matt 4:4 NIV

• Read it DAILY. 

Dallas Willard once wrote: “Few people arise in the morning as hungry for God as they are for cornflakes or toast and eggs.” ―Dallas Willard, Hearing God

Job was one of the few! He described the importance of God’s Word in his life like this: 

“I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have TREASURED the WORDS of His mouth MORE than my NECESSARY FOOD.” —Job 23:12 NAS 

Job was under a severe attack from Satan when he spoke these words. But because he had “treasured God’s Word as more important than his necessary food,” even though this Satanic attack was severe and relentless, He was better equipped to remain faithful and steadfast in His faith and trust in God! God’s Word had become the FOUNDATION of His life! 

This is what God wanted for every leader in Israel! It’s what He wants for you and me! 

I love the way Christine Caine, leader of The A21 Campaign and renowned Christian speaker, recently described our need for daily time in God’s Word. Christine said: 

“We want a drive-thru Scripture to try and sustain us forever. Keep it under 140 characters — ‘a verse a day keeps the devil away.’ You have got to be kidding! In the day and the age in which we live, you better FEAST on the Word of God.” —Christine Caine

She is so right! 

We tend to think of food as essential to health and well-being, and it is… But Job said, “God, I’ve discovered that just as I must have food to survive, I’ve also got to have Your Word. I need Your Word for breakfast. I need it for lunch. I need it for dinner! I need it for a nutritional “snack in the Spirit” in between!  I can live without a few carbs… But I can’t live without Your Word! ‘I’ve treasured it as more than my NECESSARY food.’ It’s just that important!”

Has God’s Word become that important to you? 

A Few Suggestions On HOW TO READ GOD’S WORD: 

• READ IT with a PLAN. 

I know I keep saying it, but I love the M’CHEYNE ONE YEAR READING PLAN. It contains four readings daily — two chapters in the OT and two chapters in the NT. 

Having a PLAN keeps me from simply going back to my favorite books, passages or parts of the Bible again and again. There’s nothing wrong with having a favorite passage. In fact, most of us have been shaped by passages that have forever marked our lives. But a READING PLAN forces me to become aware of the massive scope of Scripture, and it allows the breadth and depth of God’s Word to form and shape every aspect my character, attitudes and life! 

I’ve often thought that some of us are going to make it to heaven but be embarrassed when we meet a guy named HABAKKUK and he asks us, “So, how did you like my book?” And we have to look back at him and admit, “Dude, I didn’t even know you wrote one?”

Reading the Bible with a PLAN will bring you into contact with beautiful books like Habakkuk, Zephaniah and Jude that you may have never experienced without having a plan. 

SOME RECOMMENDED READING PLANS:

• The M’Cheyne One Year Reading Plan
• The NT, PS and PRO in a Year Plan
• The ESV Study Bible Plan
• Reading God’s Story: One-Year Chronological Plan
• Bible Project: New Testament In A Year

• READ IT in different TRANSLATIONS. 

The New Living Translation (NLT) is my translation of choice when it comes to Bible Reading, but I also benefit from The Message, NIV, ESV, The Passion Translation and others… Reading from different TRANSLATIONS expands your insight and understanding of particular passages of Scripture. 

A FEW HELPFUL TRANSLATIONS: 

The Message – A very helpful translation by Eugene Peterson. Always compare it with one of the above translations.

• READ IT OUT LOUD to yourself. 

This is exactly what Revelation 1:3 challenges us to do! 

“Blessed is the one who READS ALOUD the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who HEAR IT and TAKE TO HEART what is written in it…”—Rev 1:3 NIV

Reading God’s Word out loud to yourself creates a TRIPLE sensory experience that involves READING with your eyes, SPEAKING with your mouth, and, HEARING with your own ears. For me, it’s powerful when it comes to retaining and grasping what God’s Word says. And, then, when I actually “act on it” or “take it to heart,” that’s when things really begin to shift. 

• READ IT with AUDIO NARRATION from the Bible App. (See Bible.com)

I also love HEARING the Word of God read as I read along with it. Something about the double sensory experience of HEARING God’s Word with my EARS and READING IT with my EYES helps me retain more of it!

• JOURNAL WHAT YOU READ. 

Without this practice, I have trouble staying focused on what I’m reading. I also have trouble remembering it. But JOURNALING keeps me focused on the passage and helps me recall what I’ve read. I journal something from my Bible Reading Plan practically every day. 

As a LEADER, it’s interesting to me that this is one of the requirements God mandated for KINGS in Israel. It’s also interesting that there’s no record of any of Israel’s KINGS ever actually getting around to doing it. 

We have to ask ourselves, would it revolutionize and radically change the trajectory and impact of our LIVES and LEADERSHIP — whether that involves marriage, family, home, church or business — if we began “working these words into our life” through a practice of consistent journaling about what God is teaching us in His Word? 

• PRAY BACK TO GOD what you read. 

One of the ways I “ACT ON” or “PUT INTO PRACTICE” what I’m reading is by turning what I just read into a PRAYER I pray back to God. This practice helps me apply God’s Word to the situations I’m facing in life. 

• Don’t give up when you MISS A DAY. 

Occasionally, you’re going to miss a day, maybe even a few days when it comes to your reading plan. When it happens, admit it to God, don’t give a second to shame, take up where you left off and refuse to quit!

Think about it this way: over the course of my life, I’ve occasionally missed some meals, but it never caused me to give up on eating altogether. In fact, I just made sure I didn’t miss the next meal. Sometimes, I even used it as an excuse to make up for the meal I missed! 

The evil one is known as the “accuser of the brothers.” When you miss a day in your plan, he loves to accuse. But always keep in mind that your righteousness isn’t based on how consistent you are when it comes to your reading plan, it’s based on Jesus and what He has done, and He is always faithful, consistent and full of grace. 

So, when you miss a day, admit, tell God you blew it, and pick up where you left off! 

Remember, the goal isn’t perfection, the goal is always growth. 

• Just KEEP AT IT! 

Do you realize that, depending on your reading pace, if you read the Bible approximately fifteen minutes a day, you’ll probably read through the entire Bible once during the next year?

What would the impact of reading thru the Bible once a year over the course of several years or a lifetime be in terms of your growth, character, resilience, faith, relationship with God and people? The impact could be staggering! 

If you really want to get a grip on God’s Word, begin with a habit of consistently reading it!