The first bold step to success is to read Scripture daily. Read Scripture daily. How many times have we heard this? “You need to read your Bible every day,” they tell us. Why is it so important? What if we don’t read it?
Have you ever seen those ads on television about starving children? They show pictures of these emaciated children with large, distended bellies, and their skeleton clearly outlined against their skin. Inevitably, one picture will show a closeup of a child’s face. Sunken sockets hold their listless eyes, and they don’t even have enough energy to swipe away the fly crawling on their face.
Word Starved Christians
What you never see on television are ads about the millions of starving Christians. Their physical body is healthy; some of us are even too healthy. In America, Christians live in great abundance. For many, it is two cars per household, campers, boats, and all kinds of motorized toys. Dinner can be their choice of almost any cuisine. Yet they are starving. Their spirit is starving.
In fact, their spirit is so emaciated they can’t even take a swipe at the devil when he gets in their face. Studies and polls have shown that only 11% of Americans read their Bible daily. Despite the plethora of print and electronic versions. We don’t even have to read it; we can have it read electronically on our cell phones.
The State of Christian America
What does this mean for America? A recent Barna Group study showed that 57% of Americans polled didn’t even know the name of the first book in the Bible. One in nine adults (11%) say they read the Bible daily, while 15% spend time with scripture several times per week, 8% read it once a week, and 16% read it less often than weekly (between 3 and 12 times a year).
Regarding the declining morality and rising crime in our country, more Americans say it is because of our culture of music, television, movies, and video games. Fewer say it is because of the decline of Scripture reading. [statistics come from the Barna study in 2011: The State of the Bible 2011 Analysis and Data Tables (americanbible.org)]
What Does This Mean?
It means America is falling away from being the true Christian nation she has been for 200 years. The Christians in our nation are just as starved spiritually as the children on television are physically. We are so emaciated we don’t even have the strength to confront satan in this fight of faith.
From the moment God penned His law on stone tablets, He has continuously told His people the importance of His Word. I covered God’s three-step plan for success in another post. I will cover step one more thoroughly in this post. It all starts with daily Bible reading.
(You can find it here -> God’s Success Plan)
Joshua 1:8
This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do. (CSB)
Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. (NLT)
Never stop reading The Book of the Law he gave you. Day and night you must think about what it says. If you obey it completely, you and Israel will be able to take this land. (CEV)
And don’t for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you’ll get where you’re going; then you’ll succeed. (The Message)
This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success. (AMP)
Read Scripture Daily
As you read the different translations, you notice the first step of God’s Plan for Success is to read, study, and speak His Word. He intended that His Word would never leave our eyes. That doesn’t mean to be physically looking at it 24/7. That would be rather difficult and would cause some amusing situations.
What God meant is that we are to maintain a focus on His words all day. His Word should be always in the back of our minds. Ready to guide us through any situation.
Paul said, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2 CSB)
Mimic God
The Greek word translated “imitate” here is also the same word we get our word “mimic” from. We are to mimic God. The only way we can mimic God is to know how God would act in any situation. So how do we know how God would act? By keeping our eyes on Jesus.
It says here to mimic God as dearly loved children. I know that to this day I still mimic my father. How did I learn to mimic what he did? I watched him in every situation he came into. It was by living with my father day by day that I learned what he did.
The Four Gospels
It is the same with God. We need to observe Him in scripture and see how He acted in different situations. That is one reason we have the four Gospels. Jesus only did what He saw the Father do. (see John 5:19)
Therefore, Jesus, while living on the earth, showed us how the Father would act. We can mimic Jesus and, therefore be mimicking God the Father. We can read the four Gospels and see God in action. After the four Gospels, we have the epistles or letters. The epistles are letters written to the Church.
In one of his letters, Paul said, “Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1 CSB) Now that is bold talk!
The Letters to the Church
The letters written to the Church, and preserved for us as scripture, dives even deeper into how we are to act if we are to mimic God. This brings us full circle back to why God instructed us to read, study, and speak His Words.
We need to be reading and studying our Bible, the Word of God, daily. Through His, Word God reveals Himself and the promises He has made to us. Once a day, as a minimum, we should be reading the Word of God. It can be as simple as a chapter a day.
This isn’t hard to do. We must make it a priority to read the Word daily. You can do what my wife does every morning. She gets her tablet and opens the YouVersion Bible app and has it read to her while she reads along. Easy peasy.
Speaking the Word of God
Other translations of Joshua 1:8 say the Word must not depart from your mouth. Scripture should be a part of our daily speech. Now, I am not saying we should go around quoting scripture chapter and verse.
What I am saying is the Word of God should be so much a part of who we are it is naturally paraphrased into our daily speech. If the Bible truly contains all the answers for life and godliness – if the Word of God applies to every area of our life – then it must become an integral part of our daily manner of living. Making the Word of God an integral part of our life is the first step in God’s success plan!
King David Concerning the Word of God
Listen to what King David wrote concerning God’s Word in the 119th Psalm:
- How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word.
- I have tried hard to find you— don’t let me wander from your commands.
- I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
- I praise you, O Lord; teach me your decrees.
- I have recited aloud all the regulations you have given us.
- I have rejoiced in your laws as much as in riches.
- I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways.
- I will delight in your decrees and not forget your word.
(Psalms 119:9-16 NLT)
Notice how David speaks of God’s Word as a consuming passion in his life. David reveals his intense desire for God’s Word in this passage of Psalm 119. People talk about the things they are passionate about. To understand this, just spend some time with someone who has started a new hobby. They become immersed in information about their new hobby. It is what they are always thinking about and, therefore, what they are always talking about.
Immersion Example
As I am writing this, it is the beginning of fall here in Oklahoma, and bow season is just a couple of weeks away. A man I know is just getting into bow hunting. He shoots his bow daily, and he reads everything he can on the subject. Daily he searches the Internet for blogs and watches many videos about bow hunting. He is totally immersed in his new hobby.
If you spend time with him, all he wants to do is talk about bow hunting. No matter what the conversation is, he always brings bow hunting into the talk. Later, after the newness has worn off, that will change, but if we are passionate about something, it is natural for us to speak about it.
Total Immersion
God, and His goodness and greatness, should be that way with us. We are to be passionate about our Heavenly Father. God’s attributes, character, and nature should naturally be a part of our conversation. If we live, breathe, and have our being in Him, I believe we would be passionate about our Heavenly Father. If our trust, confidence, and reliance are truly upon God, then that trust should be readily clear to everyone that knows us.
God intends us to live a life immersed in Him. In Joshua 1:8, the first step to this total immersion is continually studying His Book of Instruction, The Bible. I have found the best way to do this is to wake early enough each morning to pray and read a chapter from the Bible.
To be honest, we are only talking about 15 minutes earlier. Again, what is our priority? Do we want to be prosperous and successful in everything we do? If so, God’s way is always the right way.
Speak the Word
After reading the Word, we are to be speaking those instructions continually. Look at what the Lord told Israel before they entered the Land of Canaan, their Promised Land.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9, “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (NLT)
Our Daily Dose of the Word
We are useless without our daily dose of the Word of God. Just like God instructed Israel, the Word should start our day, end our day, and accompany us throughout our day. We are to instruct our children and grandchildren in the Scriptures so they can imitate our example. The process begins with reading Scripture every day.
Follow God’s plan for success. The first step is to read Scripture daily, study Scripture daily, and speak Scripture daily.
The Challenge
I challenge you to start each day with the Word of God. You can read it, or you can have an electronic device read it to you. Do it every morning for twenty-one days and see the difference it makes in your life.
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