Originally posted 12/18/20
Is it important to read your Bible? How can we understand what we are reading? How can we be sure we are interpreting the Bible correctly? Should we just leave the teaching of the Bible to preachers or priests?
These questions and more have been asked for hundreds of years. There was a time in history when the church made it illegal to read the Bible unless you were a priest. They believed the common person did not have the ability to read and properly understand and interpret the Bible. There is story after story about people who were priests that read the Bible and received revelations that everyone should have access to the Bible. Generally, the church would label them as heretics and kill them. Of course, in most of the world today we have access to the Bible. In fact we can have multiple versions of the Bible on our phones and carry it around everywhere we go. The question still remains: should we, the common people, have access to the Bible? What if we misinterpret the Bible?
Why Should I have the Bible
I believe it is imperative for all Christians to have their own Bible. Even more, we must read our Bibles. We cannot rely on pastors or priests to tell us what to believe. Newsflash, they are human and get it wrong sometimes. I am human and will get it wrong sometimes too. However, I feel it’s better to be wrong sometimes and learn than to never chance being wrong and embrace Biblical illiteracy. We, as followers of Jesus, must know what the Bible says. How are we supposed to know what we believe unless we spend time learning what the Bible says? We cannot rely on others to tell us what is in the Bible.
Story Time
Since my children were small, I have tried to teach them the importance of spending one on one time with Jesus. To make my point I tell them this story:
Imagine you have never met or seen a picture of your Dad. The only way you can know about him is to hear what I say about him. I can describe him to you, and I can tell you what he looks like, what his voice sounds like, what he likes and hates. I can tell you everything I know about him, but you still don’t really know him. For one thing, your relationship with him will be different than mine. You and your Dad will have things that just the two of you do. He will tell you things that he may not tell me simply because it comes up in conversation. Just as you can’t really know your Dad by just listening to me talk about him, you can’t really know God without spending time with him on your own.
We Know Who God Is
Likewise, we cannot truly know who God is unless we spend one on one time with him. One way we do this is to read the book he wrote, the Bible. God spent centuries telling his people what to write so that you and I could know what he thinks about all things pertaining to this life and the life to come. We cannot solely rely on our pastors or priests to tell us what God says. We must know first hand what God says about life. How else can we tell others about who God is unless we first know who he is?
It is essential to spend time alone with God. It is during those times we learn more of who God really is. We spend time praying and telling him what is on our minds. Then we need to be still and listen for his voice. Sometimes God will show you something through a picture in your mind. Go with it and see where God takes you. I used to think that when my mind wandered during prayer it meant that I was not focusing enough. I would push those thoughts or images from my mind and try to be better at focusing on praying. Over time God has taught me that when people, situations, or even random pictures come into my mind, he is directing me to pray for those people, situations, or he is trying to show me something through a picture. My husband has also learned to press into the images and now has some interesting visions almost every single day. (That is a whole other post!)
How Can I Understand What the Bible Says
The question still remains, how can we be sure that we will understand and interpret the Bible correctly? As someone who has declared Jesus as your Lord, you believe that Jesus died for your sins and was raised from the dead. You believe that Jesus is the only way to the Father and salvation. Because you believe that, you now have the Holy Spirit living inside you. Why is this important? It is important because Jesus tells us in John 15:26 (ESV), “But when the Helper (Holy Spirit) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.” (words in parenthesis mine) Again in John 16:13 (ESV) Jesus tells us, “When the Spirit comes, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”
The Holy Spirit will lead you to the truth as you read your Bible. He will tell you the meaning of what you are reading. I know this from personal experience. Over the course of my Christian life, I have read through the whole Bible multiple times. I have read through certain books of the Bible dozens of times throughout my Christian life. Sometimes I will be reading through a passage I have read so many times that I almost have it memorized, and the Holy Spirit will highlight part of it and tell me something about it that I have never thought of before. I learn a deeper truth of the passage because the Holy Spirit teaches it to me.
How the Holy Spirit Teaches Me
It is because of the revelations that the Holy Spirit shows me that I am able to write this blog. Without the Holy Spirit teaching me new things and telling me what to write, I wouldn’t have anything to say after about a month! I ask the Holy Spirit what to write before I start writing, and he tells me exactly what to write. When I read my Bible, I do the same thing. I ask the Holy Spirit to teach me something new, and he does! I encourage you to try it for yourself. It makes reading the Bible fun and exciting. You will find that you want to read more and more just to learn something new.
Is it important for you and I to read the Bible? Absolutely! It is through reading the Bible we find out who God really is. We have a personal encounter with him. It is through reading the Bible we learn new and deeper things about who God is because the Holy Spirit is with us teaching us all truth. You and I will know exactly what we believe about any given topic. We will be better equipped to state why we believe something is right or wrong because we know what God says about it firsthand. We get our information from the source instead of getting our information from a third party.
So go grab your Bible and start reading it. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you as you read. If you aren’t sure where to start, I recommend the book of John. John is one of my favorite books. When you finish with John you can read Ephesians, which is another favorite of mine! I’d love to hear what you learn!
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