He did it to teach you that people need more than bread for their life; real life comes by feeding on every word of the LORD. Deuteronomy 8:3 NLT

If you want to receive value for your life from the Bible, you can’t let it collect dust on your shelf or coffee table. It is not meant to be a decorating piece. I know people who keep their only Bible in there car (which is fine), and they only get it out for Sunday church. Not a lot of life change will occur with this method!

The Bible was meant to be read. We need to read it consistently. A woman wanting to impress the pastor when he came to visit, said to her little girl, “Honey, go get the book that Mommy loves so much.” The little girl soon returned carrying the new department store catalog.”

Statistics say 42% of Americans read some portion of the Bible every week. That’s better than I would have expected honestly, but I wonder what the statistic would be if the question were “how many read it everyday?”

I don’t want to put undue pressure on you, but you know the answer to this question, so how often do you read the Bible? One day, a teacher was teaching her young class the story of Jesus visiting Mary and Martha. She carefully explained how Mary and Martha had hurried to clean the house and cook a special meal. Then she paused and asked, “What would you do if Jesus was going to visit your house today?” One little girl quickly responded, “I’d get the Bible off the shelf!”

In America, Bibles are everywhere. You can find them in grocery stores, prisons, and motel rooms. They’re available in all sizes, shapes, translations, and versions, leather bound or paperback. Every year the Bible outsells every other major book. In a recent year 500 million Bibles were published in the world in 18,000 different language portions. In America we are glutted with the word of God. It’s everywhere. Yet millions of people still miss the blessing of the Bible.

Let me tell you why I did this series. I am fully convinced that, if you form a regular habit of reading God’s Word, it will change your life.

I often encourage people when they are first starting to read the Bible to begin with the Book of John. The teaching in this Book is critical to understanding the person of Christ. Realize you are not dealing with a “normal” book, but a life-changing letter from God, written to teach you about God and His will for your life. Ask God to teach you what He wants you to learn as you read it. Then read it regularly.

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