God encourages the faithful reading of His Word in 1st Timothy 4:13. He promises to bless those who read and listen to it in Revelation 1:3.
It’s interesting to note throughout the Gospel records how Christ answered people who came to Him for answers. He often would say, “Have you not read…?” and then quote from the Old Testament something that was relevant to the issue they were raising. The implication was that if they read God’s Word faithfully they would know God’s answers to the issues they faced day by day.
According to Psalm 78, when we read we should focus on God’s great acts of creation and redemption. These great themes are to be passed on from generation to generation to stimulate faith in God as well as obedience and faithfulness to Him.
I can remember once reading the whole Bible looking for the one major practical principle in each book. It was so stimulating I read the Bible through in half a year and wrote a reading guide based on my discoveries. That booklet has reached a distribution of about 100,000.
We should also be open to the Spirit’s focusing on specific issues. For example, in reading the New Testament book of Acts you might be drawn to notice how the first century church witnessed or worshiped. In reading the Gospels, the first four books of the New Testament, you will become acquainted with what God wants us to know about Jesus Christ and why He came into our world 2000 years ago.
Read God’s Word faithfully and expect the blessing God promised.
