Spiritual Disciplines, Part 2

December, 2007

by: Brock Bolde

This month we’re going to take a look at perhaps one of the most important Spiritual Disciplines that a Christian is to practice. But before we do that, let me ask you a couple of questions. Do you believe that the Bible is the Word of God? Do you believe that it “is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work?” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). If you answered yes to these questions, and I trust that you did, how is it that so many of you dine upon it like it is cake for a special occasion rather than bread for every day living? The Bible is without question the most important book that anyone can read.

D.L. Moody once said – “I never saw a useful Christian who was not a student of the Bible.” In his wonderful little book entitled “How Readest Thou,” J.C. Ryle writes – “Knowledge of the Bible, in short, is the one knowledge that is needful … A man may have the mightiest of minds, and a memory stored with all that mighty mind can grasp – and yet, if he does not know the things of the Bible, he will make shipwreck of his soul forever. Woe! Woe! Woe to the man who dies in ignorance of the Bible!” This month I want to challenge all of us to truly examine our intake of God’s Word. I want to challenge us all to become better students of God’s Word so that we might discipline ourselves to godliness; so that we might use the means that God has placed before us in order to conform ourselves more and more into His glorious image.

The Bible is to be the primary means to do this; for in the Bible God clearly communicates the truth about Himself, mankind and that which is to come. Were it not for the Bible, how else might we come to know about man’s beginnings? What would we be left to accept – that we evolved from monkeys? That our existence is nothing more than some act of random chance? It is in the Bible that we learn the difference between right and wrong; it is in the Bible that we learn that God hates sin; it is in the Bible that we learn of heaven and hell; of good and evil; and most importantly, of grace and mercy. It is in the Bible that we learn of our great Redeemer, Jesus Christ. The Bible is the Christian’s greatest means by which he can immerse himself in the channels of God’s immeasurable grace. The Bible is the book that offers us real answers to real-life questions. That is why we must stop paying lip service to calling it the Word of God but treating it as just an ordinary book. God has given us answers – the question is will we listen; will we take it to heart; will we discipline ourselves to be a people of the Book? J.C. Ryle, who died in 1900, writes as if he were writing to us today:

“Ah! Reader, it is a painful thought that there should be so much profession of love to the Bible among us, and so little proof that the Bible is read! Here we are, as a nation, pluming ourselves on our Protestantism, and yet neglecting the foundation on which Protestantism is built! Here we are, thanking God with our lips, like the Pharisee, that we are not Papists, as some are, and yet dishonoring God’s Word! It is an awful thought that the people of this country will be judged according to their light, and that so many of them should be keeping that light under a bushel! Truly I have cause for saying, no gift of God is so neglected as the Bible.” (How Readest Thou, p. 36).

Our children need to be taught the things of the Bible. They need to see in us, a people that are committed to knowing and obeying the great truths that are displayed in the Scriptures. They need to find in us, a passion that longs to know the will of God as it is revealed in the Bible. Let each of us be consumed by the God that is put on full display in His matchless Word! How readest thou, parent?

• Spiritual Disciplines, Part 1
• Spiritual Disciplines, Part 2
• Spiritual Disciplines, Part 3
• Spiritual Disciplines, Part 4