The Guide Book

Yesterday's sermon was on the importance of Christians to read the Bible. Reference was taken form the book of Joshua whereby the Lord reminded Joshua to 'let the book of law be ever on his lips and his thoughts day and night'. Why?. So that he 'will be blessed and do well'.

In the previous posting, I wrote about praying to God as way of communicating with Him.Through prayer we express with is inside our heart to the Lord. Reading the Bible in the other hand, is a way of knowing God's commands to us. Through the Bible the Lord speaks to us. Therefore, prayer and reading the Bible are two very inter-related actions. We cannot expect God to answer our prayer by praying alone. We have to let Him speaks to us through His words which is the Bible. Although God conveys His message via many channels but still the Bible is our major reference.

By reading the Bible we will be able to know the characters of God, His wills for us, His everlasting love and all the amazing works He had ever done to all His people.

But reading the Bible is not an easy task. It's not easy to understand. That's why we need to pray before reading the Bible. We need the holy spirit to teach us, to open our heart and mind. Sometimes we need to refer to other people who has more knowledge on what we are reading.

Reading the Bible is not about completely reading it cover to cover. It is about understanding the gist of every word. It is about learning the lessons it taught. It is about seeing the reflection of ourselves in its every word. Because every word in the Bible is useful for teaching.

So how to start reading the Bible?. Well, one good suggestion is to start by reading about the life of Jesus Himself. We can read from either one of the four gospels. If we can relate the story of Jesus from His birth to the time He was lifted to heaven, we have done a very good job. Having done so, we learned the teachings of Jesus, we learned about His miracles, His healing and His parables.

For me, the most important is to live by the words. We cannot merely read because a lot of people do the same. We have to understand it. But having read and understand is not the point. We must apply it, put it into practice. We shall live by it only then it will live in us. Joshua was reminded by God to put the words on his lips and his thoughts. Our lips and thoughts must be controlled by the words. Our thoughts and actions must be in accordance with the words. The Bible is the instruction of our life. It is our guide book. Our light.