Stop reading your Bible

Thought that headline might catch you off guard!

We are a few weeks into our current Lenten message series entitled "Holy Habits, Wholly Living." We have studied the habits of fasting, quiet, and personal growth. This week we come to the Holy Habit of God's Word.

Maybe you have heard this story before. It is about a new pastor who arrived at a new church. On the second Sunday after he arrived he preached the same sermon as he preached on the first Sunday. The members of the congregation thought it was a bit strange, but they didn't say anything. However, when he preached the same sermon for a third Sunday in a row, the Elders asked to see him after the service. They said, "Pastor we really love that sermon, but you have preached it three times now. You really need to preach a different sermon." To that the pastor replied, "I will preach a different sermon when you start living the first one."

When it comes to God's Word, it is not how much we know of it, but how much we live it. For some of us, the last thing we need is another Bible class. The last thing we need is to read another chapter of Scripture. Rather we need to start living and applying that which we have already read and heard and know. It is easy to fall into the trap of learning the Bible for the sake of learning the Bible.

What is a tool that is not used? Useless! We can know everything there is to know about God's Word, but if we don't put it into practice we will miss out on the power of the Word. Jesus says, "blessed are those who hear the Word AND OBEY!" (Luke 11:28) God does not call us to be Bible scholars, but Bible practitioners. The Word is not given to us for our information but for transformation.

Now don't go out there telling people that the pastor told you not to read your Bible. I'm not saying don't read your Bible. What I am saying is don't make reading your goal, make believing to be your goal.

Here is a challenge for you. Instead of making it a goal to read you Bible each day, make it a goal to write out one application each day from the Word that you can personally accomplish. The reality is you are going to need you Bible to do that. The reality is that if you start living it out and you start experiencing the power of the Word, you are going to be drawn back again and again and again and again and . . .

They are not idle Words, they are your life. (Deuteronomy 32:47) God's Word is living and active and we just can't leave these words on the pages book, but to write them on our hearts!