What if we didn’t have the Bible? We would still know that there is a creator by the things that we observe. Romans 1:19-20 “Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” But without the Bible, we wouldn’t know what He is like; we wouldn’t know whether God is loving or hateful; we wouldn’t know what He considers right or wrong; we wouldn’t know what He expects from us.
God didn’t leave us without knowledge of Him and His ways. Through His Holy Spirit, He caused prophets, apostles and other men to write a book that we could read that would tell us what He wanted us to know. The Bible claims to be from God. Although prophets wrote the scriptures, they were moved by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:20-21 “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” All Scripture is inspired or God breathed. 2 Timothy 3:16a “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God …” Therefore, the Bible is a book that we believe God gave us with the information we need in life.
The Bible is a valuable resource. In addition to telling us about God, it gives us knowledge and wisdom. Proverbs 2:6 “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” It teaches us the difference between many truths and falsehoods. Jesus came to bear witness to the truth. John 18:37 “Pilate therefore said to Him, ‘Are You a king then?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.’” The Bible tells us of a coming resurrection and judgement. Acts 17:30-31 “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” The Bible tells us how to be saved from God’s wrath. Mark 16:15-16 “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.’” There are many other important things that the Bible tells us.
We are given a summary of what the Scripture can be used for in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” It is useful for doctrine; in other words, it teaches and instructs us of things that God wants us to know. It is useful for reproof; in other words, it can convince men of the truth that may be in contrast to what they are currently doing. It is useful for correction; in other words, it restores things to their proper place by correcting false notions or actions. It is useful for instruction in righteousness; in other words, it communicates how to be right before God. If a person uses the Bible correctly, he will be complete and have everything he needs to accomplish every good work. The conclusion should be that the Scripture or the Bible is a very valuable resource in life.
There is a blessing for those who are into the word (the Bible). Psalm 1:1-3 “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” I equate the “law of the Lord” to the Bible. Those who delight in the Bible and meditate day and night upon what the Bible says are like a big beautiful tree with lots of green leaves and fruit in season; they will prosper in whatever they do. The blessing is not just for reading the Bible, but for meditating throughout the day on what it says.
Since the Bible should be so important to you, my encouragement is to immerse yourself into the word. How can you do that? You can come to the church assembly and hear the message. But if that is all that you do, I submit that that will be totally insufficient. You could have a one-on-one series of Bible studies with a knowledgeable Christian. You could set aside a time every day to read the Bible. If you read through the Bible, you might start at the beginning and go all the way to the end. I don’t encourage this method because you might become discouraged and give up in some of the sections that you might find less interesting. You could follow a daily Bible reading plan; there are many good plans available if you search for them. Some have you read a portion each day from the Old Testament, a portion from the New Testament, a reading from the Psalms, and a reading from Proverbs. At the end of the year, you have read through the whole Bible. In addition to reading through the Bible, you could do a subject study such as a study of repentance; there are tools that can help you in such a study to include a Bible concordance and a Bible commentary. One must be careful with a Bible commentary because they are the thoughts of the author who may or may not be correct in his commentary; even so, a commentary can be a valuable resource. Another way to study the Bible is to take a biblical book such as the book of Matthew or Romans and go verse by verse trying to completely understand the message. Read and meditate on what you read.
My encouragement to you is to get into the word of God – the Bible. There is a blessing to you for so doing. Don’t be content with just coming to the assembly for all of your Biblical input. Read the word. Study the word. Meditate on the word. Put the word into practice in your life. It will help you to draw closer to your God and to be pleasing to Him.