Reading the word.

[Mr T]

How often do you think Christians should read their Bibles?

And can you give an answer as to why they should read them

as often or as little as they do whatever the case maybe.

[Guest LadyC]

i think it was david who said "i meditate on your words day and night". i didn't used to really spend all that much time studying God's word until fairly recently, and i can tell you, God started moving MIGHTILY in my life and in my family when i committed myself to starting each day with prayer and systematic bible reading.

i can't tell you how much a person should or should not study, but i can tell you that if you want to see God really move in and around you, do it daily! i don't think i'll ever STOP reading daily now, because i would not want to go back to the snail's pace that things were in before.

[kat8585]

I read at night. I should probably read morning and night.

I feel you should read every day because, just as you need physical food every day to be healthy, you need spiritual food every day to be spiritually healthy.

[OneLight]

We read to know what God has to say to us. The more you want to know God, the more your read. I have found that whenever I am talking about the Lord, whether here or in life, what I have read is brought back to my memory to help answer questions or direct my beliefs on any matter.

I would recommend to read as much as you can. I use to think that this was a huge task until people started asking me question. Then I would just go to His word and search for the answer. The more I was asked, the more I searched. Before I knew it, I was in the book more then I ever thought I would be. When I finally realized this, I had a good laugh at how I use to dread the though of reading.

Be Blessed,

OneLight

[Guest LadyC]

there is a danger in that though, onelight. the majority of time i spent reading the bible used to be in an effort to respond to someone's questions on here too... but it wasn't systematic, and it wasn't thorough.... it's far too easy to take things out of context when the only time we read scripture is to answer someone else's question. perhaps even more dangerous is the motivation behind it. i often found myself looking up scriptures to be able to "one-up" someone else. that was very, very bad, and i knew it, because i used to be VERY well versed on scripture when i was younger and actually spent time studying on a regular basis back then. the "read and respond" method i'd taken up was both lazy and prideful, and i found myself understanding LESS about the word of God than i had before.

there really is no substitute for reading God's word for our own spiritual edification and growth.

[Trusting Jesus]

I don't think you can read the Bible too much. Memorize verses (which I am very bad at) so that you can have answers for people who have questions.

But it is important, too, to study your Bible. So often we can read a passage and get confused or not quite get the right meaning. If you study things like what group of people was a letter being sent to (one that was being encouraged or one that was allowing false doctrines in), was the dialog between Jesus and Pharisees or Jesus and His disciples, were Greeks or Jews being addressed, what is the Greek or Hebrew word. All of this helps to really understand what is being said.

<>< ><>

Nathele

[OneLight]

there is a danger in that though, onelight. the majority of time i spent reading the bible used to be in an effort to respond to someone's questions on here too... but it wasn't systematic, and it wasn't thorough.... it's far too easy to take things out of context when the only time we read scripture is to answer someone else's question. perhaps even more dangerous is the motivation behind it. i often found myself looking up scriptures to be able to "one-up" someone else. that was very, very bad, and i knew it, because i used to be VERY well versed on scripture when i was younger and actually spent time studying on a regular basis back then. the "read and respond" method i'd taken up was both lazy and prideful, and i found myself understanding LESS about the word of God than i had before.

there really is no substitute for reading God's word for our own spiritual edification and growth.

Sad you only read that in my words. I was using it as a comparison to when I thought reading was going to be hard to find time to do. Please, reread my whole post.

[Ddavid from NC]

How often do you eat or think about eating?

[Guest LadyC]

i did read your whole post onelight, and i wasn't saying that's what YOU did, i was saying it is something we need to be careful of. it was a cautionary response meant for those who are not reading the word daily, because if i had fallen into that pattern, i know it's quite likely that others may also.

[OneLight]

i did read your whole post onelight, and i wasn't saying that's what YOU did, i was saying it is something we need to be careful of. it was a cautionary response meant for those who are not reading the word daily, because if i had fallen into that pattern, i know it's quite likely that others may also.

I apologize! I thought you were correcting me for only reading for answers, because I also fell into that trap. Sorry .. tired and need some sleep!