The Primacy of God's Word by Candice Watters on 09/06/2007 at 1:13 PM

It's September and that means the One Year Bible just wrapped up Ecclesiastes. I never get over how practical Solomon's centuries-old advice is all these many years later. He could have written much of it on his laptop as current as it sounds. If you're not devouring this book, you're missing out. I said as much last year when I was just finishing up the book of Ecclesiastes.

* * *

Recently I heard two people I look up to praise J.I. Packer's Knowing God as foundational for Christian living. So I started reading it. One thing that's jumped off the page is the importance of biblical literacy; something my generation and following is woefully lacking.

I suspected as much based on the many emails we receive at Boundless asking things like, "is premarital sex really wrong?" "why is premarital sex a sin -- it's never mentioned in the Bible?" and "what's the big deal about having a wedding ceremony; isn't having sex the same as becoming man and wife?" And these are just the most memorable of the many examples.

But now I know that my hunch is more than anecdotal. The recent Barna Update referred to below reported that "despite strong levels of spiritual activity during the teen years, most twentysomethings disengage from active participation in the Christian faith during their young adult years -- and often beyond that." What does this disengagement look like?

Among other things, "twentysomethings have significantly lower levels of ... time spent alone studying and reading the Bible."

This runs counter to Paul's instruction in Colossians 3:16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly ... with all wisdom." It's no small thing when we cut ourselves off from the Bible.

Packer challenges his readers asking,

How long is it since you read right through the Bible? Do you spend as much time with the Bible each day as you do even with the newspaper? What fools some of us are! -- and we remain fools all our lives simply because we will not take the trouble to do what has to be done to receive the wisdom which is God's free gift.

In my case I'd have to substitute library books for the newspaper. In your case, maybe it's television, video games or magazines. I suspect for many it's their iPod. The point is that our lives will bear the fruit of what shapes our beliefs. And if the Bible isn't the primary input, we're in trouble.

The Primacy of God's Word by Candice Watters on 09/06/2007 at 1:13 PM

It's September and that means the One Year Bible just wrapped up Ecclesiastes. I never get over how practical Solomon's centuries-old advice is all these many years later. He could have written much of it on his laptop as current as it sounds. If you're not devouring this book, you're missing out. I said as much last year when I was just finishing up the book of Ecclesiastes.

* * *

Recently I heard two people I look up to praise J.I. Packer's Knowing God as foundational for Christian living. So I started reading it. One thing that's jumped off the page is the importance of biblical literacy; something my generation and following is woefully lacking.

I suspected as much based on the many emails we receive at Boundless asking things like, "is premarital sex really wrong?" "why is premarital sex a sin -- it's never mentioned in the Bible?" and "what's the big deal about having a wedding ceremony; isn't having sex the same as becoming man and wife?" And these are just the most memorable of the many examples.

But now I know that my hunch is more than anecdotal. The recent Barna Update referred to below reported that "despite strong levels of spiritual activity during the teen years, most twentysomethings disengage from active participation in the Christian faith during their young adult years -- and often beyond that." What does this disengagement look like?

Among other things, "twentysomethings have significantly lower levels of ... time spent alone studying and reading the Bible."

This runs counter to Paul's instruction in Colossians 3:16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly ... with all wisdom." It's no small thing when we cut ourselves off from the Bible.

Packer challenges his readers asking,

How long is it since you read right through the Bible? Do you spend as much time with the Bible each day as you do even with the newspaper? What fools some of us are! -- and we remain fools all our lives simply because we will not take the trouble to do what has to be done to receive the wisdom which is God's free gift.

In my case I'd have to substitute library books for the newspaper. In your case, maybe it's television, video games or magazines. I suspect for many it's their iPod. The point is that our lives will bear the fruit of what shapes our beliefs. And if the Bible isn't the primary input, we're in trouble.

Comments

[1. Melissa said the following at 1:43 PM on Sep 6:]

1

Thanks for this post.

One day I realized that I read through maybe a hundred (more or less) books a year but had never read through the Bible in a regular, consistent, daily way. I'd read the whole Bible, but not start to finish. It hit me that in my circumstances, I had absolutely no excuse for not being able to read through the Bible in a year. If I didn't, my priorities were mixed-up. This is my third year now, and I make it a habit that I don't pick up any pleasure books until I've had my Bible time.

So, I too am reading through the Bible in a year and just finished Ecclesiastes. Many things jumped out at me, including "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth.." (Ecc. 12:1). Later in chapter 12, that phrase is repeated with the reminder that life comes to an end, my dust will return to the earth, and my spirit will return to God, who gave it to me. It was another encouragement to put God first and take full satisfaction in Him. I have a few days here, then I return to stand before God.

[2. Christina said the following at 2:13 PM on Sep 6:]

2

I like to think about my bible time not as reading a book, but spending time with God.

There's a song (i think it is by Stacie Orrico) that says its the "date that only I can keep".

[3. R said the following at 5:28 PM on Sep 9:]

3

I also recently read through Ecclesiastes, and absolutely LOVED it. I've heard of others really appreciating the book as well. Thanks for the reminder of the importance of staying in God's Word.

[1. Melissa said the following at 1:43 PM on Sep 6:]

1

Thanks for this post.

One day I realized that I read through maybe a hundred (more or less) books a year but had never read through the Bible in a regular, consistent, daily way. I'd read the whole Bible, but not start to finish. It hit me that in my circumstances, I had absolutely no excuse for not being able to read through the Bible in a year. If I didn't, my priorities were mixed-up. This is my third year now, and I make it a habit that I don't pick up any pleasure books until I've had my Bible time.

So, I too am reading through the Bible in a year and just finished Ecclesiastes. Many things jumped out at me, including "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth.." (Ecc. 12:1). Later in chapter 12, that phrase is repeated with the reminder that life comes to an end, my dust will return to the earth, and my spirit will return to God, who gave it to me. It was another encouragement to put God first and take full satisfaction in Him. I have a few days here, then I return to stand before God.

[2. Christina said the following at 2:13 PM on Sep 6:]

2

I like to think about my bible time not as reading a book, but spending time with God.

There's a song (i think it is by Stacie Orrico) that says its the "date that only I can keep".

[3. R said the following at 5:28 PM on Sep 9:]

3

I also recently read through Ecclesiastes, and absolutely LOVED it. I've heard of others really appreciating the book as well. Thanks for the reminder of the importance of staying in God's Word.