One of the greatest needs for Christians, today is open their Bible’s and read it. You may have decided that this was going to be the year when you read through all the Bible. You may even have been regularly reading your Bible and be at the point where you’ve gotten to Leviticus or one of the books of history and stopped. I understand how that is, and have been stopped there before. Let me ask you, “Do you feel discouraged? Do you feel like life is caving in all around you? Do you feel that no matter what you do all you do is seeming to fail?” The reason that is, because as a Christian you are suffocating for lack of food and water.

Now that I have your attention with that last sentence let me explain what I mean. As Christians, we’ve been given a book in the Bible that is not a book of fairytales and myths. The Word of God is living water to the Redeemed, Bread of Life to the hungry, and a treasure to all who call on the name of the Lord God. Jesus teaches these truths in John 7:37-38 about the living water. In John 6:35 Jesus states that He is the Bread of Life. Christians are to seek after the Lord with all of their heart, mind, and strength (Mathew 22:37-40). Christians are to delight in the Lord who delights in them now in and through Christ.

You may not feel like reading your Bible right now. It may only seem like words on the page, but those words are powerful. They are God’s means to cut to the quick and a balm to heal you and restore in you a passion for the glory of God. The Bible is God’s power supply. Through the Holy Spirit, He convicts, comforts, and empowers God’s people to carry forth the message of good news in the gospel. Why do Christians often avoid their Bible’s? Is it because of apathy? Is it because they get bored with it? I think the reason goes deeper than these questions.

All of God’s people are in ministry full time. We all can relate to the business of life. For those of who spend most of our time ministering to people in the local church and outside of it though, we give a lot and don’t offer pour back in what we give. The end result is that often times we struggle with feeling all alone, and depressed. We become open targets for the enemy and need time to recharge. One of the reasons why we’re often so depleted I believe is that we don’t spend substantive, meditative, and reflective time in the Word of God. Sure we know what the Bible says and can quote it. Sure we can tell people to go read our Bible’s. We read our Bible’s to get to know the God who has saved His people, is sanctifying them, and will one day glorify the His own.

Today is February 5th, 2016. Maybe you resolved with your New Years resolution to read your Bible. Perhaps you didn’t. Now is a good time to start. Life isn’t going to get any easier. Jesus didn’t promise His people a bed of roses—He promised to transform His people from lovers of self into lovers of His cross. He promised that the Cross would so shape our lives that we would be known by it and transformed by the power of God through it. This is why reading the Bible is so important. From cover to cover the Bible testifies to the message of the cross and resurrection of Christ.

The next time you feel that you want to not read your Bible, I encourage you to take up and read. Take up and read because the Bible is the living water God has promised for your soul. Reading the Bible will refresh you in the Lord. As someone wisely said, “If you want to hear God speak, read the Bible. If you want to hear him speak audibly, read it out loud.” If you’re wondering why God isn’t answering your prayers, I encourage you to read your Bible since the Bible is God’s inspired, inerrant, sufficient, and authoritative Word. When the Bible speaks, God speaks which is why our response to the Word should always be one of obedience.

Today, I urge you to crack open your Bible and read it. Or if you prefer get one of the many Bible apps, like YouVersion and start reading it on your phone. Or you can listen to YouVersion on your phone and listen to the Bible. Whatever you today resolve to read your Bible. The Lord uses the Word of God in the life of His people to encourage and convict them. The Lord also uses the Word of God as a balm to comfort the afflicted, and to afflict the comfortable. Pick up and read your Bible today. Resolve to grow not only in your ability to minister to others but also in your own personal knowledge of God. After all, our daily lives as Christians should be affected by the truth and reality of the Scriptures. So pick up your Bible, and begin afresh today to see the world as God does through the lens of His Word. This is the year and now is the time to grow in your faith. As you grow in your faith, the Lord will provide opportunities for further service in His time and for His glory. Now go read your Bible and may God by His Spirit grow in you a greater passion for Himself through your own reading of His Word.