The very fact that there is a Bible shows how the Lord left this witness for generations to come. He spoke through men so that we could know Him and know how much He loves us.
If I were to share my testimony with you over a cup of coffee, you might find my story out of the ordinary. You see, I wasn’t saved from a life of sex, drugs, and rock and roll by an evangelist who caught my attention, where I dropped to my knees in that moment and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. My testimony is a quiet one, one that could borrow the title of Janette Oke’s book, Love Comes Softly.
I was a Miss Goody Two Shoes, always a good girl and always doing the right thing. I’m not able to give you the exact date of my conversion because it came in softly, beginning with the witness of a new friend who invited me to do a Bible study. From that point on, the more I read God’s Word, the more I fell in love with it. It was through God’s Word that the Holy Spirit ultimately witnessed to me and where I accepted the Words I was reading from the pages of Scripture as absolute Truth. It was then that I dedicated my life to reading the Word and living for God as my Lord and Savior. So for me, the biggest blessing of spending time in the Word at the outset was my salvation. This is why I am so passionate about sharing the importance of spending time in the Word of God. The Bible is literally the Word of Life and not just as a witness to salvation, but as direction for how to live your life every single day.
2 Peter 1:1-4 explains the blessings of spending time in the Word beautifully: “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”
Do you see that?! Grace and peace will be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. How do we receive that knowledge? Through the reading of His Word. And not only that, but through His precious and magnificent promises we become partakers of the divine nature. Not that we become gods, but the Holy Spirit, who resides inside of us, will lead us in the way of life and all godliness through the Scriptures.
When we attempt to live life on our own and in our own strength, there isn’t much peace, is there? Not only that, when sin is ruling in our lives, we are living in chaos. Why does sin rule in our lives? Because we are not spending time in God’s Word to allow His promises to give us an escape plan from the corruption of worldly lusts.
Let’s look at some of the blessings promised to us when we spend time in God’s Word:
Living a Life Full of Peace
As we read earlier, the Word of God grants us everything pertaining to life. To further expand on this, the definition of the word everything is “all things.” God’s Word holds nothing back when teaching us about life, but, more importantly, how to live the Christian life well.
To me, the best witness to a dying world is the peace that is ours through Jesus Christ. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27). Jesus gives us this peace, but we have to actually accept it. Not only that, how will we know about this peace unless we spend time in God’s Word every day? The Word of God is filled with account after account of God’s grace, mercy, compassion, healing, rescue, and love. All of these attributes are not just for those in Bible times but for all of God’s children. The very fact that there is a Bible shows how the Lord left this witness for generations to come. He spoke through men so that we could know Him and know how much He loves us.
Throughout my life, I’ve had several difficult seasons where I leaned in heavily on the Word of God to find my peace. As I sat immersed in the Scriptures, I could feel God’s peace wash over me. Reading the Word of God centers us in a way that nothing else can. It takes our focus off of our worries and places it back onto our Sovereign Lord who is in control of all things.
The more we make it a practice to study the Word of God each day, the more our lives will be ruled by God’s Word. We will experience the “peace that surpasses all understanding which will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). Our thoughts and actions will exemplify this peace even on our worst days.
Freedom from the Chaos of Selfish Living
Unfortunately, I don’t think there is one person who can say they never have a selfish moment. Some of us are more selfish than others. Certainly, there are selfless people out there, but even they can have a selfish moment however fleeting that may be. I would say that selfishness is what leads to all of our sins because we are choosing self over the Lord.
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14-15
If we don’t make Bible reading the priority of our day, we are choosing the world over the Word. I remember hearing once that Martin Luther would not start his day, no matter how busy it was, without spending four hours in prayer and in the Word and He would get up at 4 a.m. to do so! Now, I will be the first one to say that as long as you are reading the Word, at some point in the day, the Lord will meet you there. But is the first thing in the morning the most ideal? Yes, it is. I know when I choose the Lord at the start of my morning, even if just a verse, it sets the tone for the rest of my day. I experience less chaos in my mind and how I respond to life as it happens.
When you give God the first fruits of your day by spending time with Him in the Word, you will live a life of peace and be free from the chaos of selfish living.
Sharing in the Divine Nature
Something I struggled with as a believer is the same thing Paul talked about when he said, “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing” (Romans 7:18b-19). No matter how hard I tried, I just kept failing. I remember doing a Bible study on Ephesians where it discussed in depth Ephesians 4:24: “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Yet I still struggled...
However, in the last few years, I have seen a shift in this struggle. I find myself walking more and more with the Lord in my day-to-day life. My thoughts and actions reflect this. What’s changed, you ask? How I’m approaching my Bible reading. Instead of just reading a chapter a day and moving on, I am now being much more intentional with my time in the Word by journaling through what I’ve read. I am amazed at what the Lord is revealing to me when I sit down with my pen, notebook, and Bible. I actually like to be convicted because it draws me closer to God. Through this practice, you could say I am “sharing in the Divine nature” as I see a change in my attitudes, thoughts, and actions to what more reflect a godly walk.
I heard someone say once that just like you might not remember what you had for dinner last week, it still nourished you when you ate it. Even if you don’t remember what you read in the Bible the week before, you don’t need to become frustrated because the Word still nourishes you. Even if you don’t have time to journal through what you are reading, still read!
The more time you spend in the Word, the more it will change you, and the more you will share in the Divine nature.
Indeed, when you spend time in the Word you will receive the blessings of living a life full of peace, freedom from the chaos of selfish living, and sharing in the Divine nature.
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