A couple weeks ago I preached a sermon that shared some alarming statistics.
One of the questions was about how often one reads the Bible in a year apart from being in worship or at a church event where it is mandated (I would guess this would be like devotions in a meeting, not necessarily a Bible study.) The research showed:
14% less than once a year
9% one or two times a year
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50% of people reported that they read the Bible less than two times per year!
Of the other 50%,
7% once a month
8% once a week
14% four times a week
13% every day
My question is, how can we really know what the Bible says if we don't actually read the Bible ourselves? How many of us have heard someone say--the Bible says. I learned growing up that the Bible says God helps those who help themselves--later I found out that is nowhere in the Bible, and God actually is available to help those who can't help themselves.
We may have heard money is the root of all evil. This is a little closer to what the Bible says, but there is a significant different--the Bible says--the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. See the difference?
Love the sinner, hate the sin? God won't give you more than you can handle? Cleanliness is next to Godliness?
How can we truly discern God's will for us if we don't know what the Bible actually says? If the Bible reveals to us who God is, if it is the cradle that holds the Christ, it would benefit us to know what the Bible actually says.
It is hard to get into the habit of reading scripture. However, the discipline is important for those of us who follow Christ. To make it easier, I want to start recording a reading from scripture every day--where we will read through an entire book of the Bible. We aren't going to pick and choose what we like or those passages that are easy. We will read through parts that are hard to hear, that we may not understand, and let those sit with us as they are.
I am beginning with 1 John--partly because it is February, and 1 John talks a lot about love (Valentine's day and such). I began to post on our YouTube channel on February 1, 2025, and will continue to post daily. This is also one of my favorite books in scripture and probably one of my favorite verses is in chapter 4.
May you be opened to hear the Word of God!
Pastor Julie
Join our YouTube Channel at (21) Ascension Lutheran Church - YouTube
February 1, 2025 https://youtu.be/1uaF54AYS0c
February 2, 2025 https://youtu.be/Wc90P999--o
February 3, 2025 https://youtu.be/FMPKz_gPqXk
