The Value of Holy Scripture
The Word of God is alive. God’s will is found in His Word. The solution to every problem in every life is found in the Bible. If you are lonely or lost, God will befriend you and find you in His Word. If you are fearful, your fear will be replaced by faith. In God’s Word you will find encouragement, instruction and love as well as the Lord Himself.
Those who are seeking guidance about His way of doing things will find clear instructions in His Word. If you desire to know how to enter into personal relationship with Him, with others and how to manage your financial affairs or your business you will find the answers in the Word of God. You will find the solution to all the troublesome concerns of life, large and small, in His Word.
The problem for all of us is knowing where the answers are to be found. The answer is obvious. To know where to find the answers, we must be familiar with the instructions. The fact of the matter is, the Bible is the “Manufacturer’s Instruction Manual for Life.” It truly tells us how to conduct our lives.
Psalm 119:9 says, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your Word.” We can surely rejoice because God is always faithful to those who seek Him and obey His commands. “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands” (Deuteronomy 7:9). After you begin to read Holy Scripture regularly, the Lord will begin to pinpoint passages of Scripture which are particularly relevant to you as you begin to recognize He is speaking directly to you through His written Word. As you immerse yourself in Scripture daily, His living Words will begin to penetrate your heart and you will discover Him to be unconditionally loving, steadfast and trustworthy.
There are three distinct ways of immersing yourself in God’s Word:
- Study
- Meditation
- Feeding your spirit or “Scripture Covenant”
Study
Bible “study” is for the purposes of gaining intellectual knowledge and understanding, especially the ways, purposes, nature and character of God and His interaction with His creation.
Meditation
Meditation on the Word of God is for the purposes of living in and living out the passages, stories and episodes of the Bible, word by word, phrase by phrase, line by line, precept by precept, episode by episode so the meditator lives in and through the Word experientially.
Scripture Covenant
The Scripture Covenant is a means of feeding your inner man daily on real spirit food. Jesus said, “My words are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63). The Scripture Covenant is a covenant that you make with God to read a specific amount of scripture on a regular, daily schedule.
Remember this is not a Bible Study. You are not reading for understanding, you are reading to feed your spirit man. The purpose is simply to read. Read out loud if you can. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). The purpose is to ingest a significant quantity of spirit food, consistent in amount, on a regular, disciplined, daily schedule. Read, not for content, but with the expectation God will speak to you through His Word. The Holy Spirit will teach us and reveal to us what we need to know, when we are ready to receive it.
The Bible is a love letter from our Heavenly Father to His children. He intends for it to be read, savored, absorbed and the lessons, value systems and ideas incorporated into our lives. He wants all of us to live in the relationship with Him for which He created us. Jesus, the Son of God, the Word of God, the Messiah, brings us into and keeps us in right relationship with the Father by His blood. We must respond in faith to the free gift of grace He has given us through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. As God’s children, we are expected not only to believe in Him, but also to believe Him through His Word. Scripture also reveals why there are so many ills, problems, troubles and evils confronting us today. Not only does sin produce these problems but Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge…” thus “…a people without understanding of (of God) will come to ruin” (Hosea 4:14)!
Scripture Covenant, Bible Study, and Bible Meditation are all important, necessary and complimentary. One should never replace the other. Taken together they will result in a much greater understanding of God’s will than any one alone. As we discover God’s will we can choose to bring our lives into alignment with it.
Scripture Covenant Reading Plan
Read daily as follows.
- Old Testament: Four (4) chapters a day beginning at Genesis 1:1
- Psalms: Five (5) chapters a day corresponding to the days of the month, i.e., on the 15th read Psalms 71-75
- Proverbs: One (1) chapter a day corresponding to the day of the month, i.e., on the 15th read chapter 15
- New Testament: Four (4) chapters a day beginning at Matthew 1.1
It is important to read all four sections of Scripture each day as the four are closely interrelated. The interrelationship becomes more clearly appreciated the longer you participate in the Scripture Covenant.
It is also important to read a fixed amount, a certain number of chapters each day from each section. By setting a fixed amount, rather than a fixed amount of time, you become more disciplined in your reading habits. If you follow the pattern prescribed above, you will read the Old Testament once every six months, the New Testament once every three months, and the Psalms and Proverbs once each month. I have been following this pattern or one very similar to it for over twenty years to great benefit. Many others in our family and ministry family have as well.
Pastor Gene