What’s So Great About The Bible? - No Empty Word

“The law of the LORD is perfect,

reviving the soul;

the testimony of the LORD is sure,

making wise the simple;

the precepts of the LORD are right,

rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the LORD is pure,

enlightening the eyes;

the fear of the LORD is clean,

enduring forever;

the rules of the LORD are true,

and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold,

even much fine gold;

sweeter also than honey

and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, by them is your servant warned;

in keeping them there is great reward.”

(Psalm 19:7-11, ESV)

Many moons ago, I would meet with two of my dearest friends, Beth and Brittainy, on Saturday mornings at a coffee shop. We asked each other hard accountability questions while chowing down on giant Belgian waffles smothered with strawberries and whipped cream (things you could do in your 20s!). One of those questions was: Did you read your Bible? Eek. My answer was almost always no. I’d come up with some lame excuse and shake my head. Every week I knew that question was coming, and still every week my answer would be the same.

Brittainy was leading a high school Bible study before school where they just read the Bible. No books. No explanations. Just Scripture. I was blown away by that. I wanted to be that. But I couldn’t get there. Beth challenged me to read for two minutes a day. Just two minutes. The logic? You almost always read more than that. It worked for a week or two. But nothing really stuck.

As I look back now, I think a huge reason that I was never able to gain traction in reading my Bible was because for so many years, I relied on other people’s words. It was easier. They had done the hard work of studying. In some ways, I had become lazy. But in other ways, it had crippled me. It was so much easier to read a devotional or a Bible study. It left me asking, “What’s so great about the Bible when I can read someone else that explains it to me?”

But none of those words were holding me up when my life was falling apart. As I began to ask God the hard questions about the Bible, I started reading it with fresh eyes, and I discovered the power in Scripture. I think if I had known all those years what was waiting for me in the Bible, I would not have been able to put it down. What’s so great about the Bible? The short answer is that the God of the universe is waiting to reveal Himself to you in the pages of Scripture. The Bible is a book about God; not about us. His name and character are written across every page.

The biblical authors talk a great deal about the benefits of knowing the words of God. We saw Moses’ plea yesterday: to take to heart, teach the next generation, and obey because it is our very life. Today, we read David’s praise of Scripture in Psalm 19. Here David uses several different words to describe God’s words: law, testimony, precepts, commandments, and rules. But each one is a synonym for Scripture. David highlights what Scripture is and then what it does for us.

It’s complete and revives us.

It’s trustworthy and makes us wise.

It’s correct and helps us rejoice at our core.

It’s clear and illuminates our eyes.

It’s true, enduring, righteous and warns us.

It shows us our blind spots and gives us guidance for how we should live.

It teaches us God’s boundaries and that there is value in keeping them.

His Word is for our benefit, and there is great reward in knowing and obeying it.

I don’t know about you, but I could use some reviving. I would love to gain more wisdom. I want to have guidance for navigating life. I want to know God’s boundaries because I know they are for my good. All of that is waiting for us in Scripture.

Take It a Step Further:

Again, we cannot take to heart what we do not know, and we cannot obey what we do not know. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 reminds us that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Prayer:

God, your Word is trustworthy, true, complete, enduring, and profitable for me because in it you teach us about who You are and the way in which we should live. Help me come to Scripture with a heart and mind open to learn. Let me see You as you teach me Your way so that I may be equipped for every good work.