Reading the Bible all the way through should be one of the significant goals of our lives.
Speaking for myself, spending the past 90 or so days (August 2011 through November 2011) reading through all of God's Word has been one of the most life-changing things that I have ever done. Yes, the knowledge process is good. Yes, watching God weave History for His purposes is exciting to notice. But there's more; there's the change of heart.
I have personally spoken with many people who have seriously taken on this challenge of reading the entire Bible in 90 days. Those who are "keeping up" are energized. They are committed.
Is there a "poverty of the Bible" in the Church? I believe there is, but that's another topic for another post.
On the other hand, there are those who have told me "no, I'm not participating." For a variety of reasons, they have chosen to not read the Bible through. They have chosen to not take this 90 day challenge. Some said that they "can't" or they "don't have the time", they're "too busy", etc.
We need a "why" that we can ask ourselves when it comes to Bible reading, study and personal prayer.
I'm troubled. I'm not questioning their Christianity. I'm not questioning their personal salvation. But their comments have caused me to question my own motivations. Why did I accept Jesus Christ as my personal Savior? What is or are my responsibilities as a Christian? What does it mean to be a disciple of Christ? Is my life fruitful for God and not for me personally? Did I come to Christ because I was looking for "fire insurance" (not spending eternity in hell) or for personal prosperity (the new "prosperity gospel" as touted by Joel Osteen and others)? Or do I understand - really understand - that although created in God's image, I am completely depraved and need a Savior? Do I understand that God so loves me that He sent Jesus to take away my sins so that I can live eternally?
As I've been thinking on these things, a still small voice has been speaking - almost audibly - in my mind. And that still small voice is saying "if my people..." Let's do a quick Bible study of two passages that contain that phrase. They are directly applicable to this other "Why" of reading the entire Bible in 90 days.
The first passage is Psalm 81:12-14 (NIV). It reads:
"So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own devices.
If my people would only listen to me,
if Israel would only follow my ways,
how quickly I would subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes!"
Asaph, the writer of this Psalm, is almost pleading with the Israelites. God is speaking through Asaph. The time is before the division of the "united" kingdom of Israel into the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel (Samaria). The once magnificent Temple, dedicated to God, is filling with idols. Many people have turned away from God, led by the king, his ministers and even some of the priesthood.
Instead of heeding the prophets and the Law of Moses, they were heeding their own desires. They were looking for an easy life. A life of leisure. A life that is not answerable to God. They want the blessings of God without His discipline.
Because of Solomon's sins - because of his half-heartedness - God would punish the Jewish nation. God would not break His promise with David that there would always be a King on the throne, but there would be changes. A peaceful life was to soon end.
How do you "listen" to God without being in His Word? How do you "follow my ways" if you don't know what those ways are? That was the question then as well as today. Through it all, God was (and is) still faithful.
The second passage is more familiar. 2 Chronicles 7:14-15 (NIV), when the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream after the dedication of the Temple.
“..., if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place."
The context of the passage is the dedication of the Temple by Solomon. It is magnificent! An architectural wonder. But more importantly, it is God's "home" amongst His people. No more tent (the original Tabernacle), but a beautiful edifice. Thousands of cattle, sheep and goats were sacrificed in celebration of the dedication of the Temple. It must have been an awesome sight.
But we have to remember that God cannot be contained in a temple made of human hands. How do you contain the God who created all that we can and cannot see in a building that's roughly the size of an average home in the United States?
This passage, this dream that Solomon experienced, is a divine warning to the king; and therefore to the Israelites. And even to us. We should heed these warnings. Although we are living in a time of Grace, we cannot ignore God's statement. Let's unpack this passage.
"..., if my people, who are called by My Name..." I take that to mean anyone who calls him or herself a child of God. If you are a Christian, saved by the gracious, life-giving, sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross, you are included in this warning. We cannot be called a child of God unless we have accepted Christ as our personal Savior.
This is the first "if". God will do and be certain things "if". Keep in mind that He has a right to do this because He IS God. He is Sovereign in and of the universe. We are not. We need to take this very seriously. This is not a joking matter. This is not inconsequential.
If we are calling ourselves "Christians", can people tell or see the difference in our individual lives (personal and professional)? I ask myself these questions. If we are God's people, then we should be "peculiar" as mentioned in 1 Peter 2 (KJV).
"will humble themselves...". Ouch! What does that mean, to humble themselves (ourselves)? As 21st century American Christians, we're not used to humbling ourselves to anyone. Even to God.
Jesus told us that we were to "deny ourselves" first (Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:24 and Luke 9:23). It's only when we deny ourselves that we can then "take up the Cross" and "follow Him." When we deny ourselves, our self interests, our needs, our personal desires, we are able to humble our beings before a Holy God. His desires become our desires. Our desires are NOT to become His desires - they can't. He is God. We are not.
"and pray..." So what does our prayer life look like? Honestly, I know that I could do much better.
Is my "prayer life" or prayer time nothing more than a laundry list of my needs and wants? Or is my prayer life a conversation with my Heavenly Father? Am I asking Him to intervene and change my life and circumstances for HIM or for me?
Let's face it, God - whether in the Old or New Testament - never promised anyone a life of complete ease. Jesus said that we would face tribulation. That was and is a guarantee. We are not guaranteed an easy life right now. If I am praying for God's will to be done in my life, I had better hold on tight - to Him. If I want a mediocre life, that's easy. In fact, the devil wants nothing more than we Christians to have a mediocre life. Satan does not want God's Kingdom to flourish. And therefore, the devil does not want you (or me) to flourish as a follower of Christ.
"and seek My face..." How do we seek God's face? What does it even mean to seek God's face? Why would you even want to seek God's face?
To me, this is the crux of the matter in why read the Bible, from cover to cover, in 90 days.
To seek someone's face means to learn all that you can about them. After being married for over 27 years, I'm still learning things about my wife. Because I love her, I will want to always learn something new about her. How much more then when it comes to knowing God?
God is infinite. I am finite. So how do we seek God's face? How do we find out about God? What makes God God? Why is that important to my personal life? What difference will knowing God make to my personal life? What difference will knowing God make in regards to my other personal relationships?
Can we know God through His creation? Yes. That goes without saying. But how do we learn of His mind and His heart? What are God's motives? Why does He love us? Why does He do what He does? Why does He do what He does in the order in which He does it?
All of these questions cannot be answered with one word answers. The answers to these questions require thought. When we come to God and freely ask Him to "show Himself" to us, we had better be able to sit down and listen. And we listen to God not only through our conscience minds, but primarily through His Word. Every single word, every single jot and tittle, from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, is directly from the Mind of God. God, through the power and inspiration (breathing through) of the Holy Spirit, directed the minds and hands of common men to write His Words down so that we may have them. And we have these Words so that may read and speak and listen to these Words to know, understand and experience God.
So if we're not opening God's Word purposefully, on a regular (daily) basis, how are we going to get to know Him? If we can't come to know our neighbor or friend or spouse without spending time talking with them and interacting with them, why would we think that we wouldn't have to do those same things in knowing God?
"Well," someone says, "I'm reading a devotional guide." Or "I'm reading a book about God." That's like getting to know your spouse or significant other by having coffee once in a while with a friend of theirs rather than interacting directly with the loved one.
Have I made my point?
"and turn from their wicked ways..." So finally we come to the last action from our part. In other words, we need to repent. I don't know about you, but this could be hard. No, this IS hard! Repenting of sin isn't meant to be easy. It is hard. Sinning is easy. Doing what is right in God's sight is hard. Whether it's watching my tongue (swearing, lying, omissions, etc) or my eyes (television, internet, reading material, walking around) or my actions, it is far easier to sin rather than do God's will.
And until I repent of what I am currently doing in every aspect of my life, unless I radically change - turning 180 degrees is a radical change of direction - I'm not turning from my wicked ways. And not only is it my actions, but also my attitude. I have to want to change.
"then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." The promises that God provides once we purposefully choose to humble ourselves, pray and seek God's face is fantastic! First of all, God will hear. He will listen to us. He listens anyway, but He will listen to what we are saying because it is lining up with what HE wants; not what we want. That's awesome. Our God is concerned and listening to our desires and needs - because our needs and desires are God's "needs" (God really doesn't have any needs, He owns it all) and desires.
Next God will forgive our sins. God wants to forgive us of our sins. He wants to cleanse us so that He can fellowship with us. But we want to seek His forgiveness. We have to admit that we are individually sinful and in need of a Savior. When our sin is forgiven, when it is put as far away as the east is from the west, we can have true fellowship with God. We can come into His presence and enjoy Him both now and throughout eternity.
Finally, God says that He will heal our land. What is our land? I believe that "our land" can mean any and everything from our nation in general all the way down to the chaos in our individual lives. God wants us whole. He wants us healed. He wants us profitable - not necessarily to ourselves, although we may "gain" in the temporariness of this world - for His Kingdom.
So to wrap this up: are you hurting? Are you weary? Are you confused or perplexed as to what to do with your life? Are you looking for meaning? Do you look around you and your family and think "so what" or "is this all there is to my life"?
Are we as a nation and as a people hurting?
I believe all of us are. We hurt as individuals. We hurt as couples and families. We hurt as communities (even churches). Our nations are hurting. We could even go so far as to say that all of these are hurting so bad that each is crumbling in its own way.
The good news is that God wants to restore us. He wants to restore His creation to full fellowship. But that will only be done His way. Let's read 2 Chronicles 7:14 again: “..., if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place."
We are living in very perilous times. Everything seems to be in flux. The good news is that our God is constant. He is immutable. He is never in flux.
Let all of us Christians be the start of something marvelous. Let's turn off the TV for an hour. Let's get off of Facebook for an hour. Let's open our Bibles and read. Let's let God begin the healing process of starting with us, His children, called by His name. Ultimate healing by the return of Christ is nigh. Our job is to point as many people as possible to the Kingdom.
Click here to return to the Bible in 90 Days series.
