The number one, best-selling Book of all time remains the Bible. It is available to 98% of the world's population in over 1800 languages. In this country, as ungodly as it seems to be, 79% of adults believe the Bible to be sacred literature. 88% of American households own a Bible and on average, each household possesses 4.7 Bibles. Yet, only 37% of Americans read it once or more a week and only 19% can be said to be truly engaged in Bible study.
What this tells us is that while the Bible is held by the vast majority to be sacred (although that number drops from 79% to 64% among the Milennial Generation), only a smal percentage regard it as essential to their daily lives - the same percent (19%) who consider it of no value. Most Bible-belivers are obviously dabblers in Scripture. Few search it out in depth.
What I have just shared with you is not academic to our faith, it is anemic to our faithfulness. How one regards and reflects on the Bible is not simply a matter of choice, it is a matter of consequence. The Bible, as sacred literature, is actually sacred and life-giving. The Bible contains the very words of God and therefore, "They are not just idle words for you - they are your life" (Deut 32:47).
As the apostle Paul affirms, "All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in rightiousness, so that the servant of God may be throughly equipped..." (2 Tim 3:16-17). Conversely, if we fail to engage in a pursuit of God's Word, we are only partially equipped. Equipping requires depth, dabbling leaves us ill-equipped.
So, what say you? Are you comfortable with the amount of Bible reading and contemplation you currently do? Are you growing in grace and increasing in righteousness? Or, are you coasting along with a minimal amount of Scriptural consumption that leaves you anemic and lacking in power against the spiritual forces and physical circumstances of life? Jus' Askn.
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