by Bill Fix
A few days ago, I stopped by a bagel shop for breakfast and a change of scenery to finish some work. While there, I observed a group of women meeting for breakfast and a devotional/Bible study. Near the end of their meeting, I couldn’t help but hear one lady express to the others how excited she was to be attending their meeting because although her family was religious, she admitted she had never read the Bible before…
I did not interrupt their meeting to inquire further, but I would assume she knows a few things about the Bible and has read several passages before. I assume what she meant is that she never read it cover to cover or perhaps never read substantial portions of it. But now, she was going to do something about that.
Unfortunately, I believe too many people are in the same situation as that lady. For whatever reason, they haven’t ever read the Bible. Maybe they are too busy. Or think it’s too difficult to understand. Or they accept whatever they were taught by a parent, preacher, or friend. After all, how many of us do the same thing with respect to the tax code, the terms & conditions for any sales contract, or the manual for our own vehicles?
Acts 17:11 commends the Bereans for their “fair-mindedness,” as compared to the Thessalonian Jews, because the Bereans “received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” These people heard something new and tested it against the Scriptures. They didn’t just take Paul’s word for it, and they didn’t immediately discount it like the Jews from Thessalonica.
Given the amount of conflicting religious doctrines being taught today, a fair-minded person who wants to learn the truth today will read the Bible, study it, meditate on its message, and discern what God’s will for mankind really is. The only way to know the truth is by searching the Scriptures—if we merely do as we see fit without actually reading the Bible, we are directing our own steps and are bound to fail (Jer. 10:23).
How strong can your faith in God really be if you haven’t read His Word?