The Good Book, God’s Word, the Holy Scriptures – these were some of the monikers I heard growing up regarding the Bible. As a child, I remember thinking it was a special book for older religious people. I remember seeing several Bibles at my grandparents’ home. Back then, I didn’t understand why they had so many Bibles. To their defense, I did see my grandparents reading their Bibles from time to time, but there were so many other copies in their home that seemed to serve as decoration pieces. Some of their Bibles were red, green, maroon, and black. Some had praying hands or a sword embossed on the front. I wondered if those were the extra special Bibles.
Then it happened – I got my own Bible when I was about 8. It was hardback with an artist’s depiction of “happy Jesus” walking through a meadow with a staff in His hand followed by smiling children. As a teen, I received a modern looking NIV Teen Bible with a computer generated picture of the toughing fingertips from Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam”on the front and back with no words on the front cover. This definitely wasn’t my grandparents’ Bible! In fact, one wouldn’t know it was a Bible unless they read the spine of the book or opened it. I wrote my name on it and began to read portions of it. I was quickly surprised and pleased at the lack of “thees”, “thous”, “willeths” and “killeths”, which made the reading much more accessible. More than once, my grandfather encouraged me to read through the book of Proverbs by reading one chapter a day. I didn’t though. As a teen, I was unregenerate and had no desire to read the Bible, though I esteemed it to some degree.
By God’s grace, He saved me just a few months before my 24th birthday and one of the changes that I quickly noticed was a desire to know Him. I’d never been a voracious reader. I read enough to make good grades in school and earn an undergraduate degree, but reading wasn’t something I typically enjoyed. However, as a new believer, I now had a desire to read – to read the Bible. While I didn’t properly understand much of what I read, the Holy Spirit was allowing me to understand some key things I needed to know at that point in my life. This fueled my desire to keep reading the Bible and I noticed my affections for Christ being kindled as I pored over His word, sometimes for hours. That Bible I received as a teen was being put to use, but I soon got a study Bible that accelerated my understanding.
I remember taking my Bible to work and reading it during my lunch-break. After coming home from work, I would read for most of the evening only taking a break to eat dinner. Over time, I noticed new convictions for godliness and against ungodliness. I was being conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29) having my mind renewed (Rom. 12:2) by reading the word of God (Ps. 19:7-8; 2 Tim. 3:16-17). In my new found love, little did I know that the discipline of Bible reading would be so useful in times of great temptation and as a means of rejoicing through exaltation.
It would be some time before I understood the gravity these words spoken by Yahweh and the LORD, Jesus Christ –
“…. man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” (Deut. 8:3)
It also would be some time before the thought crystallized in my mind that reading the Bible is a means of war and worship.
Urban Resurgence 