The Bible is God’s Love Letter to His
people. As with any genuine Love Letter, you just can’t read it too many times.
As the years go by, it just gets more encouraging and more meaningful. This is
a call to read the Bible, this wonderful Letter of Love, regularly. The
reason it is important to read the Bible regularly is that there is no
sustained growth in our love relationship with the Lord apart from a regular
communion with God through His Word. A marriage without regular loving
communication will not foster growth in that love relationship. When we read
the Bible, God speaks to us in love. The first step to growing in our love
relationship with the Lord is to read the Bible Regularly.
The believers in the town of Berea
are a great example concerning a daily interaction with the Word of God. Acts
17:10-11, “Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night
to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the
Jews. 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.” These
Bereans were praise worthy because they were in the Word each day. They
were in the Word regularly.
Daily in the Word is the best option if we
desire to grow in our love relationship with the Lord. Historically speaking,
Social Media is a fairly recent means of staying in touch with friends and
family. Social Media allows one to have daily communication with loved ones.
Relatives and/or friends, not seen for years, now connect regularly and the
love relationship that may have lain dormant is rekindled. If our love
relationship with the Lord isn’t as vibrant and fulfilling as we desire, or as
it once was, it is time to “rekindle” that love relationship. When we hear
directly from our Father in Heaven and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ daily,
we grow more deeply in love with them and our love relationship burns brighter.
Jesus told us in John 15:9-12, “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved
you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My
love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These
things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your
joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you
love one another as I have loved you.” We, as beloved children of God, are
moved, blessed, and encouraged in our love relationship with the Lord every
time we read these words of Jesus. What a blessing to hear God say, “I love
you” over and over again.
Many years ago a man not particularly
well-read decided to read the Bible regularly, daily. He had never
succeeded in reading anything daily, not even when he was in school. Language
was not his strength. He knew he would never read out loud in public. What was
his plan to read the Bible? He bought an inexpensive Bible. Each day he cut one
page from the Bible and placed that page in his lunch box. At lunchtime, he
took out his lunch, and then began reading that one page, front and back;
sometimes he read it twice. Soon a great habit was formed. He read and
listened to his Father in Heaven communicate divine love each day at
lunch. What a blessing at lunchtime! About one and half years later he had read
the entire Bible. But he did not stop this habit of reading God’s love
letter to him. He bought another inexpensive Bible, cut one page out each day,
and established a lifelong habit of growing more and more in love with
his Lord. The point of this example is that he did what had to be done to be in
the Bible every day. You may find this example extremely outdated. Your
only Bible may be in your Bible App on your iPhone. It is the strategy that
counts. However you do it, develop the habit of regularly reading
God’s Love Letter written directly to you.
Another lesson from this man’s lunchbox
Bible reading program is that he had a set time and place. It is very important
to set a time and a place for regular Bible reading. We carve out time
for important regular events in our life. Just like most things in our lives,
Bible reading normally does not get done if it is done whenever we “find the
time.” Many believers don’t “find the time.” We have to prayerfully, lovingly
make time. Date night is a regular activity I always recommend to married
couples. Date your spouse each week without fail. To accomplish this important
step in marital communication, you must plan a night, set it, and stick to it.
It is the same with Bible reading. Set the time and the place, and stick to it.
Let us regularly read the Word of God and hear Him say again and again,
“I love you.” May God bless us as our love relationship with Him grows and
burns brighter and brighter.