Growing up in church, we were always encouraged to read our Bibles.
I tried, I really did.
But again and again the same pattern would repeat: I’d read consistently for a week or two, then completely fall off for months.
In time, this inconsistency formed into a dark cloud of guilt that seemed to hover over my Bible. If I picked it up and read only a verse or a chapter, I’d hear this voice in my head saying, “That’s not enough. You should be reading more.” Or when my (very much incomplete) Bible-in-a-Year plan from two years ago fell out from between the leaves, it seemed to taunt me for my lack of discipline and love for God.
With all of that baggage, I found that I just never much felt like reading my Bible. I’d look with envy at those more disciplined believers who simply got up each day and read the Word without much fuss, and I’d berate myself for not sharing their self-discipline.
Earlier this week, I was talking with a young believer who was humbly describing the same struggle with Bible reading. And during our conversation, I realized that at some point in my life that guilt relationship with Bible reading had disappeared and been replaced by delight in the Word. And I wasn’t quite sure when or how that had happened.
So, I’ve done some reflection on that transformation, and my goal for this essay is to trace how the Lord changed my relationship with daily Bible reading from one of guilt to one of delight. I write this in the hopes that it might be helpful to some other believer who, like myself, eagerly desires to read the Word with consistency but finds themselves discouraged by their lack of consistency.
As far as I can tell, there were three factors that transformed Bible reading from a chore to a joy for me.
I. A Clear Word
In my undergraduate days, I found myself in a church that undermined my confidence in the Bible. The pastor there (who has since left the faith) taught that humility meant that we should never presume to understand what the Bible means. We are sinners, so it would be arrogant to claim to understand God’s Holy Word.
It sounded so pious. But this teaching was a cancer to my faith.
I bring this up because it seems to me that the greatest obstacle to Christians reading their Bibles consistently is not the reading itself, it’s the understanding. Reading without understanding is not only unprofitable, it’s exhausting.
Even an illiterate man at least has hope that with time and assistance, he may eventually learn to read. But to believe that it is actually not even possible to understand the Word of God with any degree of confidence—what could be more demoralizing? Why even try to read it if it’s just an uncrackable cipher? Best leave it to someone more qualified.
It was the doctrine of the clarity of Scripture that finally cut through the fog of my so-called “humility.” I came to see that my belief in the inscrutability of the Bible was less of an affirmation of my modesty and more an accusation against God’s ability. When we say the Bible cannot be understood, what we are really saying to God is “You are not a capable revealer.”
The Bible is a revelation from God. It is meant to reveal what God is like, what He requires of us, and what He has done for us. It was given to us by an all-wise God who knew our weaknesses and thus accommodated His revelation to us.
The Bible is meant to be understood.
That doesn’t mean that it is always easy. But, for me, the clarity of Scripture was a doctrine of hope. It was this rising conviction that understanding the Word was possible that drove me to open and wrestle with it.
When we read the Word, even when it’s hard understand, we should be like Jacob who wrestled with the Lord and refused to let him go until he received a blessing.
II. A Cherished Privilege
It was that conviction in the clarity of Scripture that led me to fight to understand it. And that eventually propelled me to want to receive more training through seminary, so I could understand it even better. But, even then, I was still approaching daily Bible reading from a place of shame and obligation. I’d still beat myself up that I wasn’t reading it as much as I should.
It wasn’t until seminary that the shroud of guilt around daily Bible reading was finally lifted. In my first year, I took a class from a visiting professor on the life of Martin Luther, the Reformer and an incidental remark he made changed my life forever.
It is a well known fact of history that it was Guttenberg’s moveable type printing press that God providentially used to spread the Protestant Reformation. But it had not occurred to me before this class that the concept of daily Bible reading would have been completely foreign to the Israelites, the early church, and indeed to nearly every believer in the first 1500 years after the life of Christ.
Why? Because it would have been impossible.
Before this time, access to an individual copy of God’s Word was a privilege reserved only for the wealthy. And even if you were fortunate enough to possess a biblical scroll or codex, you’d also need to be literate to make any sense of it. The primary way believers throughout history have consumed the Word was orally. It wasn’t until the dawn of the moveable type printing press that it became possible for a family of even moderate means to possess a copy of the Bible in their own home and in their own language.
So, as this professor pointed out, perhaps we should not be so hasty to impose a standard on every Christian that almost no Christian was able to meet for the first 1500 years of the church.
To say this very clearly: Daily Bible reading is not a requirement for Christians, neither biblically or historically. You don’t have to read your Bible every day.
Now, one way to respond to this news is to say, “Great! I don’t need to read my Bible every day!” But it actually had the opposite effect on me. Understanding that daily Bible reading wasn’t some kind of requirement released me from the guilt relationship I had with reading God’s Word.
Now, guilt isn’t a bad thing. A sense of our guilt is what leads us to repentance, it gets us back on the right path. But guilt is a terrible fuel to drive us forward on the path of obedience. The life that pleases God is not one which is motivated by guilt, but by love. And love doesn’t grow from the fouled soil of shame.
You don’t get your kid to love baseball by saying, “Well Daddy really loves baseball, but I guess it’s okay if you don’t want to watch the game with me…” You don’t woo a lover by telling her she’s a bad person if she doesn’t accept your proposal. And you don’t get believers to love God’s Word, by browbeating them into it. We are gospel people, not legalists, after all.
We are called, like the Psalmist, to “love thy law” (Psalm 119:97). But Bible-reading motivated by guilt, far from promoting that kind of affection, undermines our love for the Scriptures. When you see daily Bible reading as a chore, a bare duty, it saps it of all delight.
Having access to read the Word of God daily is a privilege that, historically speaking, is a unique blessing for us in this present age. Recognizing that privilege should not burden us with guilt, but instead invite us to take up, read, and cherish this precious gift.
III. A Changed Life
Now, as I was reading the Bible more consistently, I began to see old patterns of sin dissolving before the expulsive power of God’s Living Word. I felt my mind being renewed by the truth. Attitudes shifted, habits reformed, I experienced the reality of what was described in the Scriptures actually happening in my own life. I was, little-by-little being conformed to the image of Christ!
That was it. I was hooked.
I guess if I were to try and sum all of this up in a single word, that word would be faith. The thing that drove me to consistently reading the Bible daily was faith. It was faith that the Bible could be read and understood that got me to open it up. And it was faith that reading the Scriptures wasn’t a heavy burden but an immense privilege. And that faith was blessed with fruit, as the Word did its work in my life.
It was this final element that has secured daily Bible reading as a lifelong habit for me. The Word changes me, it draws my eyes heavenward to worship our great God for who He is. And it’s this reality that drives me back to the fountain day after day for another drink. It’s not always easy. Consistent Bible reading does take effort. Every morning I face that internal battle to reach for my Bible or not. But now that I’ve tasted and seen, most mornings I’m able to win that battle. I’m not saying that to brag, or hold myself up as a kind of example, but simply to say that it’s possible. You can do it.
To be sure, I’m not seeking to diminish the role of discipline in all of this. But I wish that when I was struggling to love the Word, that the more mature believers I spoke with would have spent a little more time on the heart of the matter before rushing on to practical advice, which has been my aim here. But I would hasten to add that my pursuit of consistent Bible reading has been greatly aided by practical means like Bible reading plans, a reasonable sleep schedule, my morning routine, and having a community of believers in my local church.
I’ll link to resources on all of those things below. But let me conclude by encouraging you forget the struggles you’ve had in the past with reading the Word consistently, and, by His grace, seek to take it up once again. It is so worth the effort.
