‘When you have taken it over [the Promised Land] and are living there, be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.’ (vv31b–32) Deuteronomy 11:26–32
The Gospel coalition reported in 2020 on the scandal of biblical illiteracy. It revealed only 36% of committed Christians regularly attend church and personally read the Bible every day. A crisis of ‘Bible neglect’.
Yet, Scripture is clear, we cannot navigate our own lives, let alone act as Christ’s ambassadors if we don’t know God’s intentions set out throughout the Bible (Psa. 119:4–5). We not only fail to grow in the knowledge of God and God’s ways, but we also miss an opportunity to meet with God face to face. For Jesus is God’s Word.
The Bible offers us different ways to engage with its text, and that without such a daily encounter we can easily miss God’s course for our life. There is a crisis of confidence throughout society, heightened by the fears created by the global pandemic.
As disciples, we hold in our hands God’s eternal truth. It offers stability, insight and clear guidance in how we are to live to the best effect in an unstable world.
Of course, that’s a choice each of us must make for ourselves. It is strongly contested by many voices, yet it is also affirmed by the testimony of millions who have entrusted their lives to the Bible as the handbook for learning to make the most of life.
RELATED SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER: 1 Chron: 16:7–36; Jer. 29:1–14; John 10:1–18; Rom. 1:8–32.
AN ACTION TO TAKE: I encourage you to join me and engage in a three-year study of God’s Word with Search the Scriptures to encourage our spiritual formation.
A PRAYER TO MAKE: ‘Lord, may I keep Your Word ever before me, day by day. Amen.
Photo by Ben White & Tamas Tuzes-Katai on Unsplash
