Does Bible Reading Affect You Too?
Luke 17:3-4
In college I had to read a story about a man that turned into a roach. That story impacted my life in such a way that I now, sometimes, think twice before stepping on a roach. Of course, that’s after I scream. The point is that we read a lot during high school and college which is usually just a means to an end. If we want a good grade, we must read. This concept of reading things we don’t want, but knowing we must read them, seems to have spread to our reading of the Bible. Our lives are so busy that God sometimes gets squeezed out little by little. Sometimes we put reading God’s word on the back burner, I mean way way back. At other times we read the Bible just to get a good grade or to put a check mark on our list; this just isn’t good enough.
This morning I read quite a bit in the Bible and a question that sometimes goes through my mind is, “Will this make a difference?” I think if we answer that question honestly, we would say that some days we can see an immediate difference in our life and other days we see no difference at all. As a creature of our society, I sometimes want instant gratification. I’d like to see an immediate effect because of my Bible reading.
Among my reading today was a passage on forgiveness. Not long after my Bible reading, I had a disagreement with my wife about something that just didn’t matter. She apologized. I apologized. Then I sat there stewing in my juices of unforgiveness when I remembered what I had just read. My attitude changed completely in a single moment. God’s word pierced my heart this morning and helped this day be the great day God intended it to be. I won’t lie and tell you that God’s word affects me or that it will affect you like this after every reading. But simply praise God on those occasions when it does.
In Christ y’all,
Brian
P.S. – I just happened to hear a song for the first time as I was beginning to send today’s tidbit, it’s called “The Fight Song.” Here are some lyrics –
Did you really want to fight over something that’s really nothing?
It doesn’t matter
Did you really want to scar my heart with words that hurt me?
Don’t hurt me
I don’t really want to cry over issues
Wet tissues stick to my shoes
We can’t take back words we’ve spoken
But I’m hoping you’ll forgive me
