Daily Bible Reading is Good for the Mind and the Soul

 

It’s late.  You’re staring at your phone, updating your Facebook status one last time before calling it a day.  After posting your oh-so-keen political insight guaranteed to change the hearts and minds of your followers, you go to plug in your charger for the night.

That’s when you see it.

Even in the dim lighting of the room, the book’s title glows across the spine like the branches of a burning bush.  The letters read “Bible”.

As if you weren’t exhausted already, your body is now comatose.  Your eyelids feel like two sacks of flour hanging from your face.  Your shoulders slump as you shuffle over to the book like a zombie.  It’s doubtful there is enough strength left in your arms to pick the thing up, much less open and read it.

Maybe you can just skip today? After all, you pretty much know everything in there, right? Is there a point to regular, consistent Bible reading?

Yes. For starters…

There’s power in repetition.

“Repeat”, and its various conjugations often carry negative stigmas. We repeat our mistakes. If something is repetitive, it gets boring. Repetition sounds exhausting and monotonous.

But repetition is what builds habits, and reading the Bible is an important habit for Christians to have.

Read it consistently, and suddenly, you’ll find it to be a natural part of your life. Days without Bible reading will feel incomplete. And you’ll find the truth and promises of God on the tip of your tongue, strengthening you as you go about your day.

Daily Bible reading grows your faith.

“Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.”

Think of your faith as a muscle.

Muscles don’t just need exercise to grow stronger. They need nourishment. This is what Bible reading is. Your life, the world around you, it tests your faith. Pushes your faith. Stretches your faith. And the Bible feeds it. Helps it recover.

And through this process, your faith will grow stronger.

The Bible is filled with hope.

“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.”

Some days, life can be difficult. Especially in the climate we currently live in. Terrible events happen around the world. People attack each other relentlessly. We struggle to find our place in it.

But the Bible serves as a reminder that we have a hope in something beyond this world we live in. That there is a love that persists despite our failures. The Bible is filled with stories of men and women in impossible situations who held on to hope that God was still present in their darkest times.

And every time, God sees them through.

Don’t make the Bible a checkbox.

You shouldn’t read the Bible just for the sake of being able to way that you read the Bible. You should read the Bible because you want to draw closer to God. Because you want to understand what it means to live like Jesus. Because you want the words inside to shape your life.

When you read, focus on the passages you’re reading. Dig into them. Think about what they meant then vs. what they mean now. Talk to other Christians about them.

The Bible is not a dead history book, but the living word.

Are you struggling with your faith or something the Bible says?

If you find yourself struggling with what it means to be a Christian, you should talk to someone and share what’s going on. If hours of Bible reading still don’t subside the constant hopelessness you feel, there may be a deeper issue at work.

Seeking Christian counsel is a great way to address both your mind and spirit. A Christian counselor can help identify the source of your personal struggles, while helping you develop ways to overcome them.

If you’re in need of Christian counselor, try Torrch. It’s free to use, and it can connect you with the counselor you’re looking for.

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