(a) To Satisfy One's Spiritual Hunger
There is much hunger in Africa. Many Africans live under the shadow of death brought about by famine, drought and economic failure. Yet the hunger for the word of God is more keenly felt by many. Many people are prepared to endure hunger and thirst in order to hear a soul-satisfying exposition of the Word of God. We seem to be living in those days spoken of by the prophet Amos:
Bible reading is one of the ways through which we seek to satisfy this hunger for His Word which the Lord has put into the soul of man.
(b) To Learn the Wisdom that Leads to Salvation
Man is a lover of wisdom. He wants to know the difference between reality and illusion, good and bad, right and wrong, so that he could devote his energies to the pursuit of the one and the avoidance of the other. Now there is worldly wisdom which helps one only in this passing world and there is divine wisdom which leads one through this life into eternity. This is the wisdom that leads to salvation. This is the kind of wisdom one can acquire through knowledge of the holy scriptures, as Paul says:
(c) To Learn the Secret of Success in Life
Life is a gift from God. It is His will that we make of life a success and not a failure. His word instructs us on how to conduct ourselves so as always to merit His favour and blessings. God's word enlightens man's path through life:
If we meditate on the word of God in the and strive to do according to what is written in it, we are better equipped to handle life's problems. We shall make better choices of life's options and adopt more correct attitudes towards ourselves, towards God and towards other people and things. This is the secret of success in life.
The success we are speaking of here is integral success, success of the whole person in all its dimensions -- private, social and spiritual. Above all it includes success in the all-important business of being a Christian.
(d) To Learn to Grow Strong in the Faith
Bible reading is an activity recommended to Christians, that is, those who already believe in God and in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Whether a non-believer could arrive at the faith through unguided reading of the Bible is debatable. The point here is that Bible reading is seen as a useful means for Christians who already believe to build up their faith.
Luke dedicated his gospel to a certain Theophilus, a name which literally means "lover of God". Whether Luke's Theophilus is a personal name or a general designation for any Christian we are not sure. What is certain is that Theophilus is someone who already had knowledge of the Christian faith, and that Luke wrote to him so that he might learn how well founded the teaching was that he had received (Luke 1:4). Similarly John who wrote his gospel for the Christian community gave his purpose for writing as,
Let us cite an example from the early Christians to show that regular Bible reading could serve as a means whereby the Christian could fan the flickering flame of his initial faith into the consuming blaze of a mature faith. It is taken from Acts of the Apostles, chapter 17. Paul and Silas in their missionary journey came to a town called Beroea. There they preached the word to the Jews. The story continues,
This story gives us a model of the relationship between faith and scripture. The model is:
This example brings out the vital importance of the Bible for growth in the life of faith.
(e) To Learn How to Overcome Sin and Live a Godly Life
Many Christians are in a constant struggle to uproot sin and sinful habits from their lives. They often experience the moral dilemma faced by St Paul as described in his letter to the Romans:
Now, the experience of godly men and women down through the centuries testifies to the fact that reading and meditating on the word of God is a great help in overcoming this seemingly hopeless situation. You cannot at the same time occupy the mind with the sure promises of word of God and the empty promises of sin. It is impossible to abide in the word of God and abide in sin at the same time. Hence the psalmist declares:
All children of God who wants to give sin a serious fight in their lives must seriously consider making room in their daily lives for reading and meditating on the word of God.
(f) To Learn to Defend the Truth and Refute Error
Many conflicting teaching are circulating in different Christian circles today. Faithfulness in the right way demands that one be equipped to distinguish between truth and falsity and especially to be able to see through deceptive half truths. Knowledge of the Bible helps us to do this in a number of ways:
(g) To Learn How to Witness to Christ
Sharing the faith with others is one of our Christian obligations. In John 1 we read how Andrew found Simon his brother and brought him to Jesus, and how Philip found Nathaniel (probably his friend) and brought him to Jesus. There are many ways we can witness the Good News to our family members and friends. We can do that by teaching the ignorant, by correcting the erring and by reproving the adamant. In all these forms of witnessing we shall find a knowledge of the Bible to be of great help. This is because
Many Christians know what is right and just but simply do not know how to go about sharing their convictions with friends and family members. Knowledge of the Bible gives one the courage and the know-how to share the faith with others. And how can we know the Bible unless we read and study it?
In this chapter we have examined some of the reasons our people give why they do not read the Bible. We saw that most of them are not well-founded. Then we went on to enumerate some of the advantages of habitual Bible reading. We saw that we have a lot of profit to reap from Bible reading in the our personal, social and faith dimensions of our lives. Now these "proofs" would only be dead arguments unless we take the practical steps of verifying them in our own personal experiences.
In Bible reading as in all matters of faith experience is the best teacher. Then only can we graduate from the ordinary level of faith where we believe because someone else told us to the advanced level where we believe because we have encountered God ourselves. Then can we make our own the words of the villagers to the Samaritan woman who encountered Jesus by Jacob's well:
GUIDELINES FOR PRIVATE BIBLE READING (READ, THINK, AND PRAY)
READ. Read and read again until you have understood the passage very well. The passage can be as much as one chapter or just a few verses.
2. THINK. Think about what you have read (meditation). The following questions will help you to think fruitfully on the passage.
(A) Is there:
(B) What is the main lesson you have learnt from this passage and which is the verse that best summarizes this lesson? Try and commit this verse to memory.
3. PRAY. Pray concerning the insights and lessons you have got from the reading.
NB. It is very recommendable to keep a Bible reading notebook or chart where you record your daily readings as well as the inspirations and problem that came to you in the course of your Bible reading.
The faithful who spend at least a quarter of an hour in reading Holy Scripture
with the great reverence due to the Word of God and after the manner of
spiritual reading may gain an indulgence of 300 days, ... and a plenary
indulgence may be gained monthly by those who make this reading a daily
practice.
Pope Leo XIII, 13 Dec. 1898.
This book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on
it day and night, that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in
it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good
success.
Joshua 1:8
