Changed: CCV StudentsSample

TRANSFORMS

The past couple days we have focused on the Bible itself and why we can have confidence that it is the accurate Word of God. What we haven’t talked much about is WHY we should read it or why it matters in the first place? Does it just help us know more about God? Does God care that we know the difference between the Old Testament Prophets Elijah and Elisha (or that we know they existed at all)? Well, yes, the Bible does help us know more about God, and it is a very good thing to have a solid understanding of the Bible, its characters, themes, etc. But, the purpose of the Bible is so much deeper than that. 

The absolute most important reason God wants us to read the Bible regularly is that it transforms us – it is part of the process of changing us from the inside out. The things we put into our minds (whether we watch, listen to, or read them) will inevitably affect us. If we regularly put God’s Word into our minds, it will start to sink in – it will change the way we think – and it will help us to live more and more like Jesus. In fact, regularly reading the Bible is so powerful, it’s the reason that people who have read it all the way through once keep reading it again and again. It’s not like a novel that you just read in class, write the book report, and move on with the rest of your life. The Bible becomes like food for your mind and your soul that, the more you ingest it, the more you want it. And what’s even more amazing is that because God says that the Bible is “alive and active,” you can read a passage that you’ve read many times before, but somehow on that 5th time something clicks and you see it in a whole new way or it means so much more to you in that moment. 

Now that you are a Christ follower, the Bible is going to be a regular part of your life, so begin building this habit of regularly reading it. It may take a while before it feels natural to read a section every single day, but if you can work up to that, it will literally transform your life. So today, read the following passages and ask God to show you any area of your life where you need to begin letting His Word transform you.