Many years ago, one pastor ventured into a land of discovery — his quest was to find how much his people read their Bibles each day. He pastored a godly and effective church, so his expectation was that they read their copies of Scripture more than most believers in most churches. It was a reasonable expectation.
And because he had that expectation, when he saw the results he was deeply discouraged — almost 50% of the church spent less than five minutes per day reading the Bible. My (sad) guess is that’s probably still representative of most churches in most places.
Why is that so? Most of those believers would acknowledge the inerrancy of Scripture and the sufficiency and power of the Word of God, yet they gave it little heed. Perhaps they (and we) forgot about the author of Scripture and what He said about His Word and what that Word will do.
The Puritan Thomas Watson offers a helpful stimulant:
Read the Bible with reverence. Think in every line you read that God is speaking to you.…Read with seriousness. It is matter of life and death; by this Word you must be tried; conscience and Scripture are the jury God will proceed by, in judging you. Read the Word with affection. Get your hearts quickened with the Word; go to it to fetch fire. Luke 24:42. ‘Did not our hearts burn within us?’ Labour that the Word may not only be a lamp to direct, but a fire to warm. Read the Scripture, not only as a history, but as a love letter sent you from God, which may affect your hearts. Pray that the same Spirit that wrote the Word may assist you in reading it; that God’s Spirit would show you the wonderful things of his law. ‘Go near,’ saith God to Philip, ‘join thyself to this chariot.’ Acts 8:89. So, when God’s Spirit joins himself with the chariot of his Word, it becomes effectual. [my emphasis]
Words of Grace 