Hi, my name is Dan and I’d love to share with you why I read the Bible. (This is part two of a four part series: see part 1, part 3, and part 4).
The word “Bible” comes from the Greek word “biblia” which means “scroll” or “book.” But I think that perhaps another, more fitting, name for the Bible could be “lamp.” Let me explain.
We hear in a long and beautiful poem that the Bible is ‘a lamp for my feet, a light to my path’ (Psalm 119:105, also see Psalm 19:8).
Imagine walking around an unfamiliar house in the pitch black of night — you get lost, don’t know where you are going, bump into furniture, hurt yourself. This is what it’s like to live this existence by ourselves. If we don’t know who we are, we don’t know why we’re here on earth, we don’t know the meaning of existence, or how we are to live with each other — it’s like walking around in the dark. We hurt ourselves and others, we get lost wandering around aimlessly.
But the Bible is a light to our path. In the Bible God reveals to us our identity — we are children of God, his precious creations. In the Bible God reveals our purpose — we are to love him and serve our neighbours in need. In the Bible God reveals morals and ethics i.e. how we are to live — we are to live peaceably with each other, to help, to serve, to show compassion, etc.
Hearing God speak to us through the Bible is like someone flicking on the light switch in a darkened house — now we see the world clearly! And we see this world is a beautiful yet fallen, messy, broken, sinful world. But we also see how to navigate and walk the path with the light. It’s Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection that flicks on this switch in our lives, bringing light, acting as a lamp for our feet — the Bible makes us restored and purposeful people.
And that’s one of the reasons why I read the Bible. The words in this book give light to the path of life.
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If you’ve never read the Bible, why not give it a try? The Gospel of Mark is a good place to start. If you’ve read the Bible before, but not picked it up for a while, why not try it again? You could try the Letter to the Ephesians. If you’re local to the Sunshine Coast, Immanuel Church would love to help arrange someone to sit down with you to read the Bible — contact us to arrange.
If you already read the Bible regularly, have you given thought as to why you read this book? We’d love to hear why you read the Bible!