# Daily Reading of God's Word



## MLCOPE2 (Mar 2, 2010)

Is there a command, either explicit or implicit, to study/read God's Word every day?

I've taken the example of the Bereans to imply this but does this constitute a command or is it merely admirable?


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## rbcbob (Mar 2, 2010)

The regular reading of the Bible is held forth as a good practice.

Job 23:12 12 I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food.
Psalm 119:148 My eyes are awake through the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word.

Acts 17:11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.


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## MLCOPE2 (Mar 2, 2010)

rbcbob said:


> The regular reading of the Bible is held forth as a good practice.
> 
> Job 23:12 12 I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food.
> Psalm 119:148 My eyes are awake through the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word.
> ...


 
Those are both great passages that I have regularly used in defending the value of God's Word, but I am still at a loss as to whether or not a command is inferred to read/study _daily_.


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## Tripel (Mar 2, 2010)

No, it is not a command.


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## Contra_Mundum (Mar 2, 2010)

The proper way, in my opinion, to look at this matter is:

Don't I want (not "must I?") to feed my soul daily, as I would feed my body daily?

Further, for your consideration: For long time periods of Christian history (but not actually as bad in the early church as in later, less literate eras) people haven't been able to read the Bible every day--because not everyone had Bibles, or Scripture portions; nor were they properly literate.

In the beginning of the Reformation, few people (who were certainly soundly converted) had that kind of education or access. It was coming (thank God!), but it was far from as widespread as we now appreciate. People attended church more frequently (Calvin and the other ministers in Geneva were preaching daily), and they meditated on the Word more than reading "Our Daily Crumb." They certainly weren't sinning because they were not getting as much spiritual nourishment as they might like!

So, let us not get into legalisms of "how much" or "is this enough?" Let us take advantage of the gifts of our time, and beware of judging others improperly. Let us set a godly example of piety: Bible reading, meditation, and prayer; that will make our growth in grace an attraction to others, seeing how "well-fed" we are. We are not all "cookie-cutter" Christians.


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## Ne Oublie (Mar 2, 2010)

I keep thinking of Psalm 119 and the instances of words used like meditate, remember, delight, etc. Bear with me hear, as an example, if David (or anyone for that matter) did not attend to the Word, how would he delight in it? Or how
would he know what to mirror his life by? Even our memory fails us. We are told to be watchful, and to guard our hearts. How would we do that without the Word daily in our lives?
Is not the meditating and studying of the Word part of our communion with Christ? Is this not how the Spirit confirms things in us and shows us his Glory and Holiness? How are we fed? We do not live on bread alone,
but the bread of heaven...

I think the text gives many accounts of how our heart desires to commune with Him and his Word, as our comfort and guide. I know so well what it is like not to be with God, but Christ has given me the Way to not be among the starved any longer, and I must say, I long to hear his Word and the new mercies it beings every morning. Oh, what can I do with out him?!

So, maybe the question would be better posed as "why would I not study his word daily?"


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## jason d (Mar 2, 2010)

There may not be a direct command to do it, but I want to be a blessed man and I pray it is our delight to meditate on it day and night:



> "Blessed is the man
> who a walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
> nor stands in the way of sinners,
> nor sits in the seat of f scoffers;
> ...


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## au5t1n (Mar 2, 2010)

The ancients had much better verbal memories than we do. The Scriptures were read over and over again in the synagogues and, later, churches. The people who couldn't read or didn't have a copy...memorized. They didn't have a chapter-and-verse breakdown either, so they memorized content only. Christ is the perfect example - How often did he quote the Scripture from memory in the gospels? Would that we would both read and remember today as well.


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## JennyG (Mar 2, 2010)

In this sort of connection I always think of Deut 6, _these words.....thou shalt teach diligently to thy children....talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou risest up, and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand.....and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thinehouse, and on thy gates..._


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## Tripel (Mar 2, 2010)

We all agree that we are better off reading God's Word every day, but the OP asks if it is a command. It's not.


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## MLCOPE2 (Mar 2, 2010)

Tripel said:


> We all agree that we are better off reading God's Word every day, but the OP asks if it is a command. It's not.


 
How, then, would you respond to Joshua's quote that:



Joshua said:


> ...the command is screamingly implied by the very fact of the Scripture's existence.


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## VictorBravo (Mar 2, 2010)

He also asked if the command was implicit. 

Here is an explicit command: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."

How one is to Love God is given by example, as Josh and others have pointed out. So, yes, there is an implicit command to read Scripture. It's not a matter of whether you fulfilled your daily duty so much as whether the discipline you follow comports with Christ's command. In other words, if you miss a day you don't step on a fatal crack, but if your days are filled with ignoring Scripture (whether by meditation or reading), you are almost certainly not using all your heart, soul, and mind in loving God.


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## Tripel (Mar 2, 2010)

MLCOPE2 said:


> Tripel said:
> 
> 
> > We all agree that we are better off reading God's Word every day, but the OP asks if it is a command. It's not.
> ...


 
I didn't say that there's no command to read Scripture. I was responding to whether it is a command to read daily. If it were a command, it would be sinful to go a day without.

---------- Post added at 03:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:19 PM ----------




VictorBravo said:


> He also asked if the command was implicit.


 
True, but I don't see how it's implicit either. If you're going to argue that there's an implicit command to read the Bible every day, why isn't it implicitly commanded to read it twice every day? Why is the implicit command only regarding one read?


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## MarieP (Mar 2, 2010)

Does a soldier in the midst of a war zone have to put on his uniform and arm himself with weapons before going out to fight?

---------- Post added at 09:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:29 PM ----------

Plus, we must always remember the reason we read our Bibles: we are seeking to commune with our Heavenly Father and glorify His Son and be filled with His Spirit.

---------- Post added at 09:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:31 PM ----------




Tripel said:


> We all agree that we are better off reading God's Word every day, but the OP asks if it is a command. It's not.


 
How about this?

Joshua 1:8
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.


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## Tim (Mar 3, 2010)

Michael, what do you hope to gain from this thread? This is not an accusatory question, but rather one that I hope will help us all here. Would it lead you to change your practices if you were convinced either way? What prompted you to pose this question? I think your motivation might help us to provide fruitful conversation.


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## MLCOPE2 (Mar 3, 2010)

Tim said:


> Michael, what do you hope to gain from this thread? This is not an accusatory question, but rather one that I hope will help us all here. Would it lead you to change your practices if you were convinced either way? What prompted you to pose this question? I think your motivation might help us to provide fruitful conversation.


 
I had a conversation with a friend who said that reading the bible _daily_ was not necessary. My initial reaction was to demand that it was, but as I began to study some of the passages that I used to support this I found that I couldn't defend my position explicitly so I thought to ask the board whether or not it could be inferred from scripture.

Thus far I can't see from the arguments that it is in fact _commanded_ but I do however still think that daily reading and studying is the best approach to take when able.

I am still interested to see if someone can make an argument for it, if it's possible.


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## Tripel (Mar 3, 2010)

MarieP said:


> Tripel said:
> 
> 
> > We all agree that we are better off reading God's Word every day, but the OP asks if it is a command. It's not.
> ...


 
Are you suggesting that is a command to read the Bible every day and night, therefore twice daily? I think that's a good habit, but I don't see that passage as a command for daily reading. What about the portion about it not departing from your mouth--is that a command that we should continually and literally be speaking the Law of God? 

I'm no scholar, but I think that passage is telling us to know God's Word so that it can shape how we live day in and day out. I could be wrong, but I don't see that as a literal command to read the Bible twice daily.


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## Tim (Mar 4, 2010)

MLCOPE2 said:


> Tim said:
> 
> 
> > Michael, what do you hope to gain from this thread? This is not an accusatory question, but rather one that I hope will help us all here. Would it lead you to change your practices if you were convinced either way? What prompted you to pose this question? I think your motivation might help us to provide fruitful conversation.
> ...


 
Thanks, Michael.

You might ask your friend _why_ it is not necessary. If I ask myself that question, I wonder whether all my answers would essentially be, I am good enough without it. In fact, as I type these words, I seriously wonder whether I think too highly of myself when I miss a day - that I don't 'need' the Word and can get along just fine for 24 hours without it. Convicting!


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## nnatew24 (Mar 4, 2010)

I think this is a relevant question to ask and issue to consider. Not, of course, because we want to dissuade people from reading the scriptures, but because in our culture, the 'quiet time', 'devotional', personal bible study has taken precedence over the public means of grace.

I tell my wife, who is extremely busy during the day taking care of two small children and the house: if you cannot sit down and read the scriptures every single day (which is preferable), you haven't sinned. Instead, meditation on the Word and the truths of scripture is possible in any setting, there should always be some time set aside for prayer (pray without ceasing), and God has given you one day out of seven on which all you need for life and godliness is granted to you. On the Sabbath we are to dedicate ourselves to the public means of grace first and foremost, and in the other times we are to then focus our attention on any bible reading, prayer, worship, and meditation that we may have missed during the week. 

So, I think it is helpful to point this out to people in our culture, and explain to them that the public means of grace and the Sabbath *are* commanded, and that we need to be careful not to let the private means of grace (like personal bible study) quench the chief means that God has given us for spiritual growth and godliness.


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## MarieP (Mar 4, 2010)

Tripel said:


> MarieP said:
> 
> 
> > Tripel said:
> ...


 
No, I don't take it be a literal command to read the Word every morning and every evening. Obviously, those who lived in Bible times were not able to literally read it every day. You had the oral words passed down and then when it was written not everyone had access to it all the time. However, I'm not going to say the verse means nothing. God wants us to meditate on His Word daily (just like He wants us to speak the words of God daily). We, like Job, ought to treasure it more than even our necessary food (23:12). We are to desire the pure milk of the Word as newborn babes so we will grow (1 Peter 2:2). We are to hide God's Word in our hearts (which is more than just reading, I know) that we may not sin against God (Psa. 119:11).


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