A sense of our guilt is what leads us to repentance, it gets us back on the right path. But guilt is a terrible fuel to drive us forward on the path of obedience. The life that pleases God is not one which is motivated by guilt, but by love. And love doesn’t grow from the fouled soil of shame.  You don’t get your kid to love baseball by saying, “Well Daddy really loves baseball, but I guess it’s okay if you don’t want to watch the game with me…” You don’t woo a lover by telling her she’s a bad person if she doesn’t accept your proposal.

Growing up in church, we were always encouraged to read our Bibles. 

I tried, I really did. 

But again and again the same pattern would repeat: I’d read consistently for a week or two, then completely fall off for months.

In time, this inconsistency formed into a dark cloud of guilt that seemed to hover over my Bible. If I picked it up and read only a verse or a chapter, I’d hear this voice in my head saying, “That’s not enough. You should be reading more.” Or when my (very much incomplete) Bible-in-a-Year plan from two years ago fell out from between the leaves, it seemed to taunt me for my lack of discipline and love for God. 

With all of that baggage, I found that I just never much felt like reading my Bible. I’d look with envy at those more disciplined believers who simply got up each day and read the Word without much fuss, and I’d berate myself for not sharing their self-discipline.

Earlier this week, I was talking with a young believer who was humbly describing the same struggle with Bible reading. And during our conversation, I realized that at some point in my life that guilt relationship with Bible reading had disappeared and been replaced by delight in the Word. And I wasn’t quite sure when or how that had happened. 

So, I’ve done some reflection on that transformation, and my goal for this essay is to trace how the Lord changed my relationship with daily Bible reading from one of guilt to one of delight. I write this in the hopes that it might be helpful to some other believer who, like myself, eagerly desires to read the Word with consistency but finds themselves discouraged by their lack of consistency. 

As far as I can tell, there were three factors that transformed Bible reading from a chore to a joy for me.

I. A Clear Word

In my undergraduate days, I found myself in a church that undermined my confidence in the Bible. The pastor there (who has since left the faith) taught that humility meant that we should never presume to understand what the Bible means. We are sinners, so it would be arrogant to claim to understand God’s Holy Word. 

It sounded so pious. But this teaching was a cancer to my faith. 

I bring this up because it seems to me that the greatest obstacle to Christians reading their Bibles consistently is not the reading itself, it’s the understanding. Reading without understanding is not only unprofitable, it’s exhausting. 

Even an illiterate man at least has hope that with time and assistance, he may eventually learn to read. But to believe that it is actually not even possible to understand the Word of God with any degree of confidence—what could be more demoralizing? Why even try to read it if it’s just an uncrackable cipher? Best leave it to someone more qualified.

It was the doctrine of the clarity of Scripture that finally cut through the fog of my so-called “humility.” I came to see that my belief in the inscrutability of the Bible was less of an affirmation of my modesty and more an accusation against God’s ability. When we say the Bible cannot be understood, what we are really saying to God is “You are not a capable revealer.”

The Bible is a revelation from God. It is meant to reveal what God is like, what He requires of us, and what He has done for us. It was given to us by an all-wise God who knew our weaknesses and thus accommodated His revelation to us. 

The Bible is meant to be understood. 

That doesn’t mean that it is always easy. But, for me, the clarity of Scripture was a doctrine of hope. It was this rising conviction that understanding the Word was possible that drove me to open and wrestle with it.

When we read the Word, even when it’s hard understand, we should be like Jacob who wrestled with the Lord and refused to let him go until he received a blessing. 

Read More