Reason 10:  Reading the Bible Provides a (the Only!) Practical Way for Us to Have a Real and Active Faith

  Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
  The righteous will live by faith.
  Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. . . do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless . . . 
  These verses alone (there are many more) make it clear that the modern approach of thinking we can invent our own “Gospel,” that we can ignore and live without God’s Word is not simply dangerous, it is deadly!  
  We must certainly have faith, but the righteous (those God declares as right before Him) must LIVE by (exercise, do, apply . . .) faith.  It is easy to have a mental and verbal faith – it is impossible (requiring God's grace) to LIVE by faith.  And even with His grace we will not live by faith perfectly, but as we “Fight the good fight of the faith” we will grow in this grace and truth.
  At its essence, Godly faith is the acceptance of God's offered grace. No one possesses in themselves Godly faith, “it is a gift of God. . .”  And just as we are born again by this grace faith, the Bible tells us (more than one time, in multiple ways, with many examples): “The righteous [those right with God] live by faith” – a growing grace faith, again, not something we have within ourselves, but that which comes as we accept God's offered grace on a daily basis to handle and deal with life.
  Faith is believing in God's sovereignty in the face of the many and on-going trials and temptations we all face, expecting there to be particular, specific and special grace, in many forms, necessary to meet our personal and exact needs. Faith is the application of God's sovereignty to our individual circumstances through a belief in His power and promises of help, hope and grace offered to us.  Faith is sensing and seeing our many and daily needs and believing:

• God loves us and cares about everything we encounter.
• He has a will related to the many issues/subjects we face, a will for our good.
• He can, through and by His grace (His Son and the power of the Holy Spirit), perfectly execute His will when we ask, seek and value Him.

And not having and living by this faith, and failing to do so more and more over time, is the foundation of sin for, like any important relationship, our connection with God will either naturally decline and wane or, through WORK (He will work far more than us, but we have a responsibility to value and take His grace) – one-way relationships do not last too long!
  Every life can be measured by both the direction and growth of sufficiency and supply – is the trajectory toward or away from God?  Have we and are we looking first and foremost to self and others (individuals and institutions) for our protection and security?  Or, in every area and season of life do we look to God for help, hope and meaning instead of our gifts (our intelligence, personalities, likabilities, nationalities . . .), education, money, entertainment, government, news, jobs, key relationships, children as surrogates . . . . ?  The direction of our focus will decide our ultimate destination, either towards God as the only answer or away from God more and more so that, at some point, (as God rules) we have reached the point of no return, we have committed the "unpardonable sin”, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, effectively saying: “I don't need you, I don't want you, because I, and my supporting idols, offer more meaning, help and hope than you will or can!”
  What are we to do to find the truth?  We must periodically:
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. 2Co 13:5
  Yet, many churches are waking up to the fact that many of their people can't examine themselves because they have become, through neglect of the Word of God, spiritually illiterate.

 Which is worse in the end?
 • The one who can read and ignores the warning(s)? or
 • The one who can't read?
Both will be destroyed!
   Sin causes people to ignore, neglect and defy the Word of God until, through this neglect and defiance, they became ignorant of the life, sight, freedom, light, grace, hope, help . . . love God offers – they looked away, walked away and found themselves without a good and loving Shepherd, in need, in brown and sickly pastures, fighting fellow sheep for the little to no available provisions, beside turbulent waters, with declining and sick souls, surrounded by danger and wickedness, in fear, ultimately in the shadow of death with only idols that will take not provide help, hope or comfort . . .  and finally without any hope of dwelling in the house of the LORD lost forever!    
 Unlike a child who needs to grow up so they can successfully “separate” from their parents, growing in grace and knowledge is just the opposite. Jesus says: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  Our growth in Christ means we learn to bond to Him more and more recognizing:
“Apart from me [Jesus] you can do nothing.”
“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”
This level of believing (faith) either makes sense or it doesn't, but there is no question, if the Bible is our “rule” of belief and measure of faith, that this is God’s consistent expectation from beginning to end. 
  We can wait to seek God and His Word until we see a threat or exact issue, like politicians (as opposed to leaders) who exacerbate issues confronting us because they do not take action early on.  Reading the Bible is important because it will clearly show and highlight the threats to our security so we can prepare for them on an on-going basis.
  The true and authentic Christian life is not one that is passive (don't do a, b, c and you are ok), rather it is very active:
  Jesus said, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”
  A woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”
  Jesus replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
  And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
  Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
  Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
  All of a sudden, tomorrow is today and we find ourselves benefiting from what we did yesterday or suffering because we failed to be diligent in preparing for today, tomorrow and forever. 
 We can either be active or passive and, as a result, benefit from or suffer because we choose one way or the other.
  Jesus told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear.”
  “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good [grace faith] soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
  This presumes, however, that we read it on a consistent, regular and disciplined basis! Reading the Bible provides a (only!) practical way for us to have a real and active faith.