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I'd like to add that I think the modern conception that one must read the bible every single day to be spiritually healthy is a legalistic, unscriptural and potentially damaging assertion.
Interesting comment.
In your opinion would prayer fall into the same category?
Also, must one do anything to be spiritually healthy? Would doing anything for spiritual health be considered legalistic?
I have counseled folks who were not reading their Bibles to read them every day, even if they didn't feel like it.It paid off for them in the end.
Unfortunately. There is a reason they were called the Dark Ages.You see, sometimes people forget that the common man did not have his own bible until the 16th century.
Unfortunately. There is a reason they were called the Dark Ages.
I have worries about a Christian who doesn't want to read the Bible every day. How can we train ourselves in righteousness if our days are not soaked in the scriptures?
I'd like to add that I think the modern conception that one must read the bible every single day to be spiritually healthy is a legalistic, unscriptural and potentially damaging assertion.
Here, then, is the real problem of our negligence. We fail in our duty to study God's Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy. --R. C. Sproul
And now, with the advent of the printing press, the scriptures are available to every layman. Would the Christians during the first few centuries AD have preferred to listen to their preachers over owning and reading daily their very own copy of the scriptures? I think not.The "Dark Ages" did not begin until 500+ years after the Apostles. What did all the Christians do during the first few centuries A.D.? They listened to their preachers.
Your argument really doesn't stand.
I apologise for not seeing your Ephesians 4 quote, it wasn't there when I hit reply. I agree, adding man's commands to God's is wrong. However, I believe there is scriptural mandate for the necessity of everyday reading of the word. Just because there are people better trained in it's exposition doesn't mean we are to neglect personal reading.Yes, I would rather have a trained pastor than my own bible. Try not to be such a product of your time and place in history. Did you totally skip over my quote from Ephesians 4? Teachers are given to train us. I am not an ordained bible teacher. "Just me and my bible" is not my way of going about growth.
If you mean a command as in "thou shalt", then no it does not. However, as I said above, there is scriptural mandate to necessitate daily reading.Perhaps you could tell me just what my argument is that doesn't stand, because I don't think you're understanding it. Does the Word of God entail a command to read the scriptures every day or does it not?
Of course they were. I have several Bibles in my home. Are you suggesting that I am not better off than they were?Were Christians in the Early Church and up until the printing press lacking?
No, but you can bet your life savings that they would give their right arm for the opportunities to read the scriptures that we have.Did God leave them without everything they needed?
And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
(Deuteronomy 8:3)
How can we eat bread daily and live, and then be expected not to eat of God's word daily and live?
Of course they were. I have several Bibles in my home. Are you suggesting that I am not better off than they were?
No, but you can bet your life savings that they would give their right arm for the opportunities to read the scriptures that we have.
We are a blessed people, with Bibles coming out of our ears. Blessing brings responsibility. Daily reading of the word is just as much a necessity to Christians as daily eating of food.
I think we are to be in the Word all the time, just as we are to continually pray for one another. This does not mean one has to have a strict regiment of morning readings, but I think going for a whole day without looking at the Word is too long. Not that I have managed to do this myself, only that I try because I think this is what God demands of me. To always, at any time of the day, be reading or thinking of or meditating on God's Word.... Does the Word of God entail a command to read the scriptures every day or does it not? Were Christians in the Early Church and up until the printing press lacking? Did God leave them without everything they needed?
I think we are to be in the Word all the time, just as we are to continually pray for one another. This does not mean one has to have a strict regiment of morning readings, but I think going for a whole day without looking at the Word is too long. Not that I have managed to do this myself, only that I try because I think this is what God demands of me. To always, at any time of the day, be reading or thinking of or meditating on God's Word.
If your reading the Word once a week, that not enough. If you're reading the Word every hour, than you're retired and living alone. But the Scriptures should be near your heart(|mind), if not your hand, at all times. It would be hard to over emphasis how important the Word is to Christians. If you know the lines from Napoleon Dynamite (or insert some other movie or book) more than you know God's Word, then you know something is wrong. We live by the Word.
P.S. If nothing else, daily reading of the Word is good practice even if it is not explicitly commanded.
You are correct. I think that was part of the point I was trying to make. The Jews would meditate on the Word, and memorize it. They did not need to keep a pocket scroll with them at all times in order to stay in the Word.What would "being in the Word" have meant to a devout Jew in the Old Testament or to a believer in the first century? It would've meant attending public worship, meditating throughout the week on the preaching/reading of the word, singing in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, discussing the greatness of God with fellow believers, prayer, etc.
Not a problem. This is part of working out things. Hopefully it leads to more understanding.I really hate the fact that this has turned into this much of a debate because it makes me look like I don't like reading the bible or something. Of course we should love the word but it's not a sin if we miss a day of reading. I don't want to derail this thread anymore; sorry for even making the comment.
I'd say it's much more important to have the word of God in your heart and to live by it than it is to read it every day.
Of course, the best way to get it into your heart is to read it daily. The important thing is to not be legalistic about it. Daily Bible reading is important but, if your circumstances prevent you from reading on a particular day, don't beat yourself up about it, just pick up again on the next available day.
There is no explicit, positive command in the Bible to read it daily. However, there are lots of passages about meditating on the Scriptures, hiding the Scriptures in your heart, searching for God, etc. So, what better way is there to (a) become familiar with the Bible's contents (especially for new Christians) and, therefore, to become more familiar with God, and (b) to inculcate the discipline of reading than to discipline yourself to read the Bible?
[bible]Ephesians 4:11-12[/bible]
The short answer, according to Paul, is that we first and foremost are not our own trainers.
***EDITED***My "trainers" tell the congregation to read their Bibles every day.
That's fine. There's nothing wrong with that, as long as they're not telling you a) that you are sinning if you don't or b) that you won't grow unless you do. But they shouldn't be shirking their responsibility to be your teacher. This is how it's been since the beginning. I'm sorry it seems so strange to you, but as I said earlier, try not to be such a product of your place and time and history.
I'd say it's much more important to have the word of God in your heart and to live by it than it is to read it every day.
***EDITED***
That's fine. There's nothing wrong with that, as long as they're not telling you a) that you are sinning if you don't or b) that you won't grow unless you do.
***EDITED***
It's a shame that the preaching of the word and the public worship of God seem to be so downplayed in exchange for individual religious experience today, even in Reformed churches.
Well, removing myself from my time and place in history, the Bereans "received the word with all readiness (from Paul), and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). I don't think the daily searching (which implies reading) of the Scriptures on the part of the Bereans was a discipline that they began under Paul's influence, but it seems rather it was a discipline already in place when they first heard Paul.Yes, I would rather have a trained pastor than my own bible. Try not to be such a product of your time and place in history. Did you totally skip over my quote from Ephesians 4? Teachers are given to train us. I am not an ordained bible teacher. "Just me and my bible" is not my way of going about growth.
...Were Christians in the Early Church and up until the printing press lacking? Did God leave them without everything they needed?
Well, removing myself from my time and place in history, the Bereans "received the word with all readiness (from Paul), and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). I don't think the daily searching (which implies reading) of the Scriptures on the part of the Bereans was a discipline that they began under Paul's influence, but it seems rather it was a discipline already in place when they first heard Paul.
And how does one have "the word of God in your heart"? By reading it every day, of course.
Job 28:28 And to man He said,
'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
And to depart from evil is understanding.'"