Blog

by Katie Erickson

We at Worldview Warriors talk a lot about reading the Bible and what the Bible says, on basically every topic. We believe the Bible is the authority for everything in life. There will be more blog posts published soon to go more into depth about why this is the case, so watch this blog for those.

The question I’m focusing on today is one that we have been asked many times, from all sorts of people - why should I read the Bible? What’s the big deal about this book that was written so long ago?

Personally, I grew up reading the Bible, basically from the time I started reading at all. It was even one of my textbooks for school, having gone to Christian schools all the way up through high school. I went to religion class 5 days a week in school, and Sunday School on Sunday mornings. You could say I’ve read the Bible a lot. I don’t tend to read novels a second time after I’ve read them (with a few exceptions), so why would I keep reading the Bible, over and over again?

For one thing, any other novel is a dead writing. In a novel or instructional book, for example, I would get the same life lessons and information out of it the second, third, fourth, etc time that I read it. With the Bible, however, I can read the same passage again and again and still learn something new! I’m sure there are stories in the Bible I’ve read or been taught about countless times, and there is always something new to learn. The Word of God is a living writing - it constantly impacts its readers with something new, even from a familiar passage.

I will admit there was a time in my life where the Bible did get rather stale for me, but that was because I didn’t have the right motivation for reading it. I was reading it because I *had* to, not because I *wanted* to. I was confident in myself and my own knowledge, rather than realizing that I don’t have all the answers and God does (yes, I was a teenager at the time). My most eye-opening Bible reading has happened since I learned its original languages of Greek and Hebrew. Since then, every time I read a passage it’s like I’m reading it for the first time, because there is always something new to gain from the original language.

As a follower of Christ, I want to know God. But God doesn’t just sit next to me like another person would so we can have a conversation over a cup of coffee. So how do I get to know Him? I need to read what He has written, just like getting to know a pen pal where the only communication is in written letters. God reveals Himself to us through His creation, but more specifically He reveals Himself to us through His written Word. God’s Word will always accomplish its intended purpose, which is to reveal Himself to His people. As it says in Isaiah 55:11, “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

The only way we can have a relationship with God is through His Son Jesus, since we have been redeemed through Him. We learn the story of that redemption in the Bible, from the creation in Genesis until His second coming in Revelation, and everything in between. We can’t fully understand our place in this world until we know the entire story of it, which is only found in the Bible. It’s the ultimate epic story of all time.

Finally, the Bible really is a useful tool in life. As it says in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” We need to be equipped to serve God, and the Bible is the only way that can happen. As you’ve noticed if you’ve read any blog posts on here, basically all of them refer to Scripture at some point; it truly is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, training, and equipping.

While I am coming at this question from a Biblical point of view, since that’s what I was raised in, make sure to watch this site this week for more posts on this topic from other points of view as well.