Reason 6: The Bible is the Only Active, Living and Personal Book.

The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Let’s face it, the majority of people give no thought to the Bible.  They do not see it as relevant and significant in any way. For the remaining minority, at least thinking and saying the Bible has some significance, there are three prevailing attitudes:

1. Some read it to please and appease God, they (from any practical standpoint) do not see any real value in the Bible, it is simply another obligation they seek to meet.
2. Others think reading the Bible is important as the way to set themselves apart from others – to show they are really great Christians – knowing and memorizing parts of the Bible seemingly (in their minds at least) makes them somehow closer to God.
3. Then you have the ever shrinking minority that reads the Bible regularly and with great expectations that it is the only active, living and personal book and, as such, God uses it to speak to them. Even though the Bible has not changed for about 2,000 years, as they read it, they find it changes daily to meet each day’s needs!  These people may be wrong, but it is more likely that they are on to something than those who either do not read the Bible or read it the wrong way have missed.

One, often overlooked, requirement for the Bible to make any meaningful sense, is that:

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Making any sense of the Bible is, then, is accomplished only by grace.

Is there a reason to read the Bible regularly? Yes, if we read it the right way. And the right way is to read it personally.  To look at a couple of examples:

• Paul wrote a short letter to the Galatians.  If we read this as history we miss the point.  We all have some of the tendencies of the Galatians, being attracted by and pulled to legalism to try to justify ourselves and think we are morally a step above other people.  This is what this letter is correcting. And to read it personally is necessary and helpful to remind us of this dangerous inclination.  But, to do so, we have to see ourselves like the Galatians.
• Similarly, we can hear, especially in sermons, how impetuous Peter is.  And this is true.  But these examples are not given to us to make us wonder, and shake our heads at, how foolish Peter was.  Rather, we are to see ourselves in these vignettes. We are to see ourselves (bad and good – at least the possibility of good if we are not yet there) in the many people and stories in the Bible.
• When we get to the Old Testament, in the book of Exodus, we will be amazed at how the Jews were so faithless and foolish in the face of seeing God do one great miracle after another.  We can't believe how they turn away from Him and back to slavery.  And then we see the reason we are reading the Bible, these are simply pictures of how we act! And the warnings God gives us (pictures are worth a thousand words – pictures of others can help us more easily see ourselves) so that we are careful and, when we find ourselves turned away from God, repent and return to Him.
• As a last example, the Parable of the Prodigal Son, one of the great stories in all of literature, is a great personal lesson in several ways:

   Jesus said: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
   “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
  “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!  I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ So he got up and went to his father.
  “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
  “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
  “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
  “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on.  ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
  “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.  But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
  “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

And what great personal lessons can we learn from a very short story?

• It is easy to recognize ourselves as the younger son, understanding everyone is a prodigal until, having made many mistakes, we (hopefully) come “to our senses . . . set out and go back to our Father and say to him: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son . . .’”
  
  But while we were still a long way off, our Father saw us and was filled with compassion for us; he ran to us, threw His arms around us and kissed us.
  
  And, we have therefore seen the great lesson of the Prodigal Son – or have we?

• But the Parable of the Prodigal Son (a name given by men – this is not really part of the Bible), is misnamed – for as many words are devoted to the self-righteous older brother as to the prodigal and, to fully appreciate and benefit from this Parable, we must personally see ourselves in him as well. In short, the younger son is a picture of the dangers before a person is saved while the elder son is a warning to the religious (saved or unsaved) of the tendency to self-righteousness.
  
  We are told how the Prodigal and Father reconciled, but are left hanging as to whether the elder brother ever saw his great sins (best signified by his veiled hatred for the father: “you never gave me even a young goat . . .”). 
  
  As important as the great encouragement of the Prodigal is, the great warning we must take away is that all of us, at times, are like the elder son – reading the Bible regularly is vital to remind us of both sin tendencies!
  
  The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

The Bible is a great double-edged sword – a great reward if we take advantage of it and disastrous and deadly if ignore it!  The Bible is the only active, living and personal book, another reason to read it on a consistent, disciplined and expectant manner.