JOHN 5:39: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.”

Here is the scene that happens among Christians daily, at least I pray it is so among Christians. We get up early in the morning when stillness abounds in our homes or find a secluded place in the quiet of the evening. We grab our Bibles and settle at a desk or in our favorite chair. It is time to meet God in His Word. What happens next? Well, one of three scenarios will unfold.

First, we open our Bible and start to read. Maybe randomly or by a Bible-reading plan. Though our eyes are on the page, our hearts and minds are already into the day thinking about what we have to do or at the end of the day with the worries of the day making our time in the Word a mindless exercise. We simply read and the Word has no impact on us. We have just gone through a dull routine of scripture reading, distracted, and produced no fruit of renewing our minds and bringing us to encounter the Lord.

Another scenario might unfold. It is what I call a “Racing Reading of the Bible.” With all that is confronting us in our lives; screaming demands upon us from many different angles, we know reading the Bible is important but the rush of the clock is upon us. So, we read–hurriedly-and like the first scenario, mindlessly and without our hearts. And when it comes to this method of “Racing Reading of the Bible”, it, too, will leave no impact upon us and we will likely not remember a single thing we read minutes after closing our Bibles.

But there is a third scenario and the right one. We open our Bibles and whisper to the Lord something like, “Father, please let Your Spirit open Your Word that I might behold Your Son. Lord, let me see Your glory in Your scriptures. Draw me to a real fellowship with You. Allow me to encounter You in the reality of Who You are in Your Word.” And then we read, slowly, word-by-word, asking questions of the text like“ What do I see of Jesus here? How is God revealed? Are there commands for me to obey? Promises to embrace? Principles to live?” This is why we come to our Bibles. Go back and read today’s scriptures. Jesus is telling us the whole of scripture points to Him. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is about God’s redemptive unfolding in Jesus and our knowing Him leading to becoming like Him.

So, it’s early in the morning or in the twilight of the evening. It is time to open our Bibles. Are we going to meet the Lord in the pages of His word? Or is it going to be a distracted or racing form of reading the scriptures leaving us empty and unchanged? The choice is ours. God gave us His Word and His Spirit to know Him. The only hindrance is ourselves.

PRAYER: “Father, help me to always approach my Bible with the single desire to know You, Your Son, and Your Spirit.”

QUOTE: “The Bible is to take us to God to know love, adore, worship, and obey Him.”