Psalm 119:11-16
11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
12 Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes.
13 With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.
16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.
Next to Jesus Christ, the Word of God is central and is of supreme importance to the Christian. It is interesting that the 1833 New Hampshire Confession of Faith set the doctrine of the Word of God as first on the list before all others. The confession says,
“Of the Scriptures. We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired, and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction; that it has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of error for its matter; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us; and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried.”
David wrote about the supremacy of Scripture by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, when he wrote Psalm 19:7-11, which says,
7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
Because of the great importance, the Word of God is to the life of the believer, it is imperative that he not only hear the Word of God in church, but he must also read the Word personally at home, and privately study the Word when he is alone with his Lord God and Savior. This effort is not to gain knowledge and impress others in a game of Bible Knowledge Trivial Pursuit. God’s plan for us is to grow in godliness; which is the same thing as holiness. God is holy and He commands us to be holy as well. As the Scripture passage above in Psalm 119 says, we hide God’s Word in our hearts (by hearing, reading, and studying) so we may not sin against Him. In other words, become holy like Him; which is, separated and set apart differently than others by being controlled by the Spirit of God rather than the fleshly desires of the world, which is sin. For Christians, this needs to be our desire, our life, our goal, and all of our efforts so we may win the prize: being like Him. Therefore, we hear, read, and study the Word of God!
In my life, I have pursued various careers as a means to support and provide for my family or for my wife and me. But now that I am a widower, my life is to glorify God in my life in all that I do. Our church recently had a Missions Conference with visiting missionaries that presented their life story and ministry. One missionary, Premend Choy, who is president of the College of Theology and Evangelism Fiji, and the teaching pastor of Lovu Bible Church, said in his testimony that Galatians 2:20 is a Scripture verse that is most important to him. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” I agree with our brother Premend. This verse is an excellent statement explaining why I chose Christ in my life over everything else. In Christ, I have died (am crucified) and now I am free to live for Him. It is not me really in my natural self, but because Christ is in me. This is my confession and this is my life and hope.
Stephen F. Olford in his book, Not I but Christ, quotes Dietrich Bonhoeffer saying, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” Olford continues and says, “How many of us are prepared to die to our reputation, to our rights, to our riches – indeed, to everything but Jesus?”
For me to live for Christ is to seek Him and to get to know Him. This revelation of Jesus Christ is found in the Word of God. Having a Bible reading plan is most important to a Christ. We breath and exhale so our physical bodies may live in this world. In the same we, we are to breathe in the Word of God by reading; and we exhale our prayers back to our God. This is how we are to abide in Christ; by abiding in His Word.
In my retirement years right now, I have two reading plans that I enjoy: one for the morning and the other at night. In the mornings, my reading plan goes through the Bible by reading passages in the Old Testament, New Testament, the Psalms, and the Proverbs. I do this because I would feel starved if I do not have readings in the New Testament and the Psalms every day. At night, I enjoy the Chronological Bible reading plan that also goes through the whole Bible in one year. It begins with the creation story in Genesis 1 and goes through the Bible in chronological order to the Book of Revelations. Since these passages are arranged chronologically, the Psalms and the minor prophets are interwoven into the time when they occurred in the history of both Israel and Judah. Both reading plans help me understand God’s Word differently: one by being fed the richness of passages from each major section of the Bible daily, and the other by laying a foundation of God’s work and purpose from beginning to end. I have used the reading through the Bible reading plan consistently since being in seminary some decades ago. This is now my second year of using two Bible reading plans (morning and evening). I love my retirement. I love my God and His Word. My daily prayer is that my God would always give me a thirst and a desire to passionately get to know Him more and to always love His Word every day of my life. And of course, to convict me of sin, to have a hatred of my sin, and lead me to a life of repentance.
In closing, I must state that I am not bragging about how spiritual I am because I read through the Bible two times a year. That is not my intention. I am an old retired man who lives alone on a small farm in Hawaii. If I can read from the Bible two times per year, both mornings and evenings, I hope and pray this can be an encouragement for others. All Christians, in complete armor of God, must have the Bible, not in their hand or on a shelf, but in their daily thoughts and meditations.