"DAILY BIBLE READING (I)"

Why We Need To Make It A Habit

INTRODUCTION
  1. John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of our country, once stated...
    "So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society. I have for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year."
  2. George Muller, who established many orphanages throughout England, said...
    "I believe that the one chief reason that I have been kept in happy useful service is that I have been a lover of Holy Scripture. It has been my habit to read the Bible through four times a year; in a prayerful spirit, to apply it to my heart, and practice what I find there. I have been for sixty-nine years a happy man; happy, happy, happy."
  3. Both of these men spoke of the habit of Bible reading...
    1. This is a habit which many great people in the past engaged in regularly
    2. Many people still do so today
    3. But I fear that if the truth were known, fewer and fewer people have developed the habit of daily reading the Bible
      1. Many have probably never read the New Testament from beginning to end
      2. Even fewer have never read the entire Old Testament
  4. And yet, I agree with:
    1. Patrick Henry, who said: "The Bible is worth more than all other books which have ever been printed."
    2. Charles Dickens, who wrote: "The New Testament is the very best book that ever was or will be known in the world."
  5. For this reason, I have one objective in this lesson and the one to follow: TO ENCOURAGE EVERY PERSON TO DEVELOP THE HABIT OF DAILY BIBLE READING!

[To help motivate us all in this regard, I wish to point out WHY it is so important to develop the habit of daily Bible reading...]

  1. BECAUSE OF THE POWER OF GOD'S WORD TO SAVE - Jm 1:21
    1. GOD'S WORD SAVES US BY PRODUCING FAITH - Ro 10:17
      1. Without faith it is impossible to please God - He 11:6
      2. Without faith in Jesus we cannot be saved - Jn 8:24
      3. The Word Of God was written to produce such saving faith - Jn 20:30-31
    2. GOD'S WORD SAVES US BY CAUSING US TO BE "BORN AGAIN" - 1Pe 1:22-23
      1. Jesus stressed the necessity of being born again - Jn 3:3-5
      2. The rebirth involving water and Spirit comes when one has received the "incorruptible seed" of God's Word; in particular, the gospel - 1Pe 1: 23-25; Jm 1:18
    3. GOD'S WORD SAVES US BY KEEPING US SAVED - Ac 20:29-32
      1. Paul frequently spoke of this value of God's Word (especially of the Old Testament)
        1. To the Corinthians - 1Co 10:11-12
        2. To Timothy - 2Ti 3:14-17
      2. It is the lack of God's Word which has always destroyed the people of God - Hos 4:6
  2. BECAUSE OF THE POWER OF GOD'S WORD TO COMFORT - Ro 15:4
    1. GOD'S WORD COMFORTS US THROUGH THE "HOPE" IT GIVES - Ro 15:4
      1. Paul speaks in this context of the Old Testament
      2. Even it provides assurance of our hope because it tells how God always keeps His promises
    2. GOD'S WORD COMFORTS US THROUGH THE "HAPPINESS" IT GIVES - Ps 1:1-3
      1. Happiness through the stability and nourishment it provides
      2. Note that this happiness comes to the one engaged in daily Bible reading! ("day and night")
    3. GOD'S WORD COMFORTS US THROUGH THE "PEACE" IT GIVES - Ps 119:165
      1. With such inner peace, nothing causes them to stumble - Ps 119:92-93
      2. As Robert E. Lee has said: "In all my perplexities and distresses, the Bible has never failed to give me light and strength."

      [Much more could be said about the value of God's Word, but I want to stress another reason why everyone should develop the habit of daily Bible reading...]

  3. BECAUSE WE ARE CREATURES OF HABIT AND TIME
    1. AS CREATURES OF HABIT...
      1. We either have good habits or bad habits
      2. If we have not developed the GOOD habit of daily Bible reading...
      3. Then we have developed the BAD habit of NOT reading the Bible daily!
    2. AS CREATURES OF TIME...
      1. We are subject to the limitations time places on us
      2. As illustrated by James, our time on earth is brief - Jm 4:14
    3. AS CREATURES OF BOTH...
      1. If we have not developed the GOOD habit of daily Bible reading...
      2. Our time on this earth will one day catch up with us
        1. We will have spent our lives on this earth without utilizing the benefits provided by daily reading of God's Word
        2. Many will have to face God having never read through His Word ONCE!
CONCLUSION
  1. This lesson is being presented to you at the end of another year...
    1. Did you develop the habit this year?
    2. If not, see how time has once again passed you by, and you have yet to read the Word of God upon which your soul's salvation depends!
  2. As another year is about to begin, and many resolutions are being made, I want to encourage you to make DAILY BIBLE READING one of the top resolutions on your list, so at the end of the next year things will be different

In the next lesson, I will offer suggestions as to HOW to make DAILY BIBLE READING a habit...