Many people make New Years resolutions at the beginning of each year. One that should be at the top of everyone's list is reading the Bible daily. Just going to church and hearing the pastor preach every Sunday isn't enough to help Christians live a victorious life. F. F. Bosworth once said, “Most Christians feed their bodies three square meals each day but only feed their spirits one cold snack each week...Then they wonder why they are so weak in faith" When we think we don't have enough time to read the Bible, then we must examine our priorities. Reading the Bible is like taking in spiritual food. As Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

One great way to stay full of God’s word is by listening to sermon tapes. Romans 10:17 says, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” When people ask me if I have gone to Bible school, I tell them that I put myself through “cassette seminary.“ Before I went into full-time ministry, I worked temporary jobs that allowed me to listen to a Walkman. Playing sermon tapes all day long (plus street witnessing) helped accelerate my spiritual growth. But if your job doesn’t permit you to listen to a Walkman, there are other times when you can listen to God‘s word. If you commute to work, use that traveling time to listen to anointed teaching tapes and worship music instead of the news.

Although listening to tapes are beneficial, that cannot be a total substitute for reading the Word of God for yourself. Proverbs 4:20-21 says, “My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart.” Jesus Himself didn't have sermon tapes to listen to. Before He launched His earthly ministry, the Lord spent time studying the Scriptures. So when He was later tested in the wilderness, Jesus defeated the devil's temptations with "It is written." We resist sin by speaking the Word of God out loud. The devil will sometimes try to deceive people by quoting Scripture out of context. That’s why we must learn to “rightly divide the word of truth“ (2 Timothy 2:15).

To help build your expectancy when reading God’s word, I’ve listed here some of it’s many benefits...

Closer relationship with God - James 4:8 tells us, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” I have often seen pastors lead their congregations to hold up their Bibles and say out loud, “This is God speaking to me.”

Answered prayer - Jesus said in John 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” When we know that our prayers are in line with what the Word says, we can have more confidence that God will answer.

Direction - Reading the Word can help us overcome indecision. One of Amy Grant‘s best known songs has the lyric “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” This is actually a word for word recitation of Psalm 119:105 (KJV).

Better time management - Proverbs 3:1-2 says: "My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands; For length of days and long life and peace they will add to you." When we make reading God's Word first place in our lives, it supernaturally gives us more time to do other things. As a young Christian, Gloria Copeland made a commitment to read the Gospels and the book of Acts three times within 30 days. As a result Gloria got more things accomplished in her life than ever before.

Purity - When people get saved, some are instantly delivered from various addictions. Others need to feed on God’s word more to overcome bad habits. One evangelist I know told me the day after he got born again, he read the gospel of John with a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other. Just over a year later, he was so full of God’s Word that he no longer desired those vices. Psalm 119:9 tells us, “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.” Reading the Word causes our thoughts to line up with God's will.

Truth - Reading the Word helps us overcome false religious beliefs that we may have held onto previously. Jesus criticized the Pharisees for rejecting God’s commandments “...that you may keep your tradition“ (Mark 7:9). Not every sermon preached by a “minister” is guaranteed to be Biblically accurate. We should be like the Bereans who “...searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:11) One pastor I know frequently reminds his congregation to read the word for themselves and not blindly accept everything he says as truth.

Wisdom and Understanding - It’s possible for Christians that are saved for a very short time to become more spiritually mature that some that have gone to church for decades. Psalm 119:99-100 says, “I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, Because I keep Your precepts.”

TOO MANY TRANSLATIONS?

Walk into your local Christian bookstore and you will find a variety of Bibles to choose from. But because of questionable translations that have come out in recent years, some “defenders of the faith” have gone to an extreme by declaring the King James Version as the only true Word of God. That’s an irrational judgment considering not everybody in the world understands English plus other translations existed before the King James Version came out in 1611. Did Jesus and His disciples talk to each other in 17th century English? No! That language didn’t exist in the Holy Lands then. Because the English language has changed over the years, people don't say “thee” and “thou” anymore except in church and Shakespearean plays.

Still some Christians judge others more by what Bible translation they read than the fruit they are producing for the Lord. Once I lived with a man who at the time was a “King James Only” advocate. He kept harassing me because I prefer reading the New King James Version (which is easier for me to understand). When I tried reasoning with this man, he threatened to kick me out of his house! Fortunately he later apologized to me and acknowledged that he had been deceived.

Although I acknowledge the King James Version as one of the most accurate translations of the original Hebrew and Greek texts, it is not perfect. For example, Genesis 1:2 in the KJV says, "And the earth was without form and void." The Hebrew word "hayah" (translated here as "was") actually means "became" and is translated that way in other parts of the KJV. Since God doesn't create anything in vain (Isaiah 45:18), that verse would be better translated as “the earth BECAME without form and void” because of Lucifer's fall (Isaiah 14:12).

I'm not attacking the King James Version but simply pointing out that no translation is 100% accurate. Even the KJV translators themselves wrote in their original preface, "No cause therefore why the Word translated should be denied the Word, or forbidden to be current, notwithstanding that some imperfections and blemishes may be noted in the setting forth of it." Despite man's imperfections God still uses people to carry out His plans. If a translation as a whole (not isolated verses taken out of context) doesn't violate basic Christian doctrine, then we shouldn’t be too quick to judge it as "corrupt" When we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in our Scripture readings, we can know "the spirit of truth and the spirit of error" (1 John 4:6).

Many ministers use a variety of translations in their studies and to help clarify points in their sermons. Once there were four clergymen discussing the merits of the various translations. One liked the King James Version best because of its beautiful English. Another liked the American Revised Version because it is more literal and comes nearer to the original Hebrew and Greek. Still another liked Mofatt's translation because of its up-to-date vocabulary. When the fourth minister was asked to express his opinion, he replied, "I like my mother's translation best. She translated it into life...and it was the most convincing translation I ever saw."

"The ultimate translation is one that influences the behaviors in readers' lives and gives them hope...The task of translation is not finished." - from the Holman Bible Dictionary

KNOWING THE AUTHOR OF THE BIBLE

I’ve witnessed to people who complain that they have a hard time understanding the Bible. There is some truth to that. Because the Bible is a spiritual book, people who are not born again cannot comprehend parts of it. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” Still that is no excuse for one to continue living an ungodly lifestyle. As one billboard says, “What part of ’Thou Shalt Not’ don’t you understand?” I’ve also talked to atheists who claim to have read the entire Bible. In response, I ask them if they read all the way to Revelation 20:15 which says that they will be cast into the Lake of Fire if their name is not written in the Book of Life.

Then again I heard about one atheist who told a missionary that if he were given a Bible, he would rip out every page and smoke it. The missionary responded by offering a New Testament to this atheist and asked him to read each page before smoking it. The atheist agreed and later testified, “I smoked through Matthew...I smoked through Mark...I smoked through Luke...and then smoked my way up to John 3:16 and got born again.”

Some people have told me they are going to heaven simply because they know how to quote John 3:16. Others have told me that they will go to heaven simply because they read the Bible every day. But James 1:22 commands us to “be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” One of those commandments is to be born again. Jesus said in John 3:3, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." So if you have never made Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior, then please pray this prayer right now…

"God in Heaven, I know I'm a sinner and I need your help. I believe in my heart that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins and rose again from the dead. Jesus, come into my heart, make yourself real to me, fill me with your Holy Spirit, keep me away from sin, be my Lord and Savior. Amen."