How Bible Reading Can Change Your Life
Last year, my wife and I were hosting a dinner gathering in our home and one of our dinner guests was a young woman from China. She was attending a university in the US and was visiting with us while attending a Christian conference. During our dinner together, we asked her to share her testimony of how she became a Christian. Her story confirmed to me the awesome power of the Scriptures and how simply reading the Bible can change a person’s life.
Reading the Bible—The Best Diversion
She began by telling us her story about growing up in China where she and her family were all atheists. She knew nothing of God or His word. However, while attending a university in China she had the most amazing experience.
She would often go to the library each day to seek some diversion from her studies. Though she was a student of math and science, she felt she would like to read something different—possibly something on philosophy. But when she searched the shelves of the library she could find nothing suitable to read.
Turning across the aisle she noticed the religion section. At the bottom of one of the shelves she found a large, white-covered book, with the title “Holy Bible” on it. Having never read a Bible before, she began from the first page in Genesis. She repeated this practice for a number of days and then stopped. However, after a couple of weeks of not reading the Bible, she felt something was missing. She had this strong desire to continue her Bible reading.
The Awesome Power of the Scriptures
While she was reading she came to the Bible verse that says, “And the dove came to him toward evening time, and there in her beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had abated from the earth” (Gen. 8:11).
When she came to this verse she was so deeply touched that she said, “I want to become a Christian.” No one told her that she needed to become a Christian, and the subject of this verse wasn’t even about becoming a Christian. Instead, the power of the Scriptures touched her related to the need of becoming a Christian, and this simple experience began her quest to find out how she in fact could become a Christian.
Although time does not permit me to tell the rest of her story, I cannot help but marvel at how a born atheist, without ever hearing the preaching of the gospel, could want to become a Christian just by reading the first eight chapters of the book of Genesis (which, by the way, does not even mention Christ’s name). All I can say is that the Spirit of God is ready to meet people on any page of the Bible.
How many lives could be changed if more people would pick up the simple practice of my Bible-reading friend. Many more of us could share how reading God’s word changed our lives.
I know my own experience confirms this. Though born in a Christian family, I can still testify that it was my own personal reading of the Scriptures that sent me on a quest to enter into the reality of what I read in God’s word.
A Simple Daily Practice of Reading God’s Word
I believe you’ll be amazed at what ten minutes of daily Bible reading can do. This simple daily practice of reading God’s word with prayer will change your life. For more details on this you may want to read my post entitled, “Practical Points on Bible Reading…”
Since one of the main reasons people give for not reading the Bible is that they don’t understand it, I’ll also recommend my favorite study Bible—the Recovery Version. It’s a Bible you can really understand. For more than two decades, my personal reading habit has been strengthened by all the helpful features of the Recovery Version. You can read the Recovery Version Bible online, and you can order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version Bible from Bibles for America.
Thank you for reading this post, and I hope that all of us can pick up this habit of daily reading the Bible to experience the power of God’s word.
If you enjoyed this post please take a moment to subscribe to the Holding to Truth blog. You can also stop by the Holding to Truth Facebook page or leave a comment below.
About Tom Smith
Hi. My name is Tom Smith. I'm the writer behind Holding to Truth in Love, and I love the Lord Jesus and His life-giving Word. Please feel free to send me an e-mail through the contact page if you have any questions. I hope you'd take a moment to subscribe to the Holding to Truth blog. Then you'll be sure not to miss a post. Thanks!
Love the testimony. After I started intentionally reading the Bible everyday, I totally noticed when I missed a day. I could feel an aching hunger in my spirit. And I love how the Power of God reached this girl even through a passage like Gen 1-8. That’s just like God, isn’t it? I’m a fan of spending time in various translations to help gain a greater understanding of the word. Personal favorites include NKJV, The Amplified, NLV and the Kenneth Wuest New Testament.
Thanks for the encouraging comments. I’ve read through the Bible in a number of different translations. In my earlier readings I started with some of the paraphrases–Good News and Living Bible. But later I read American Standard and Darby both of which are very literal. Wuest and Amplified do add some helpful insights. I just found it was a bit laborious for me to read through the Amplified like a book. Now I use it more as a reference. I also like to refer to a Greek interlinear sometimes. For example, whether the Word is “logos” or “rhema” makes a difference.
A wonderful thing about the Bible, in any proper translation, is that when we contact it with a praying spirit you touch the divine breath, the Spirit of the Scriptures, that enlightens, enlivens and sanctifies us. What a wonderful book!
Amen for the power of the word! 🙂
The Lord bless u sir. Sir, when aman dies, what happens to his soul and spirit?
Stephen,
Thanks for your comment and question. In response to your question, “when a man dies, what happens to his soul and spirit?”, please read the comments to my post, “What is the Difference Between the Spirit and Soul of Man.” My reply there to David Ozuzu should be the same answer to your question.
Tom
Hi Tom!As im reading my bible on a daily basis,and meditate a lot about it.I fill so heavy in my spirit that i can’t explain it aloquently.It is abou the kingdom of God,Mattew 18verse 36.May you kindly bring me to the light.In the kingdom ther’s a government,as Christ came to establish His kingdom on this earth,while there is the kingdom of this world?So that is why He was killed,i realy need to be clear on the isure of voting for this governments as a bornagain christian?
Hi Tom!As im reading my bible on a daily basis,and meditate a lot about it.I fill so heavy in my spirit that i can’t explain it aloquently.It is abou the kingdom of God,John 18verse 36.May you kindly bring me to the light.In the kingdom ther’s a government,as Christ came to establish His kingdom on this earth,while there is the kingdom of this world?So that is why He was killed,i realy need to be clear on the isure of voting for this governments as a bornagain christian?
i like this page but i can not find the real words of god in bible plz help me so that i can understand the real meaning of life
To help you grasp the real meaning of life from the Bible, I would recommend watching the short video from Bibles for America entitled The God-shaped Vacuum You may also like reading the attached article called The Mystery of Human Life. By thoughtfully reading through the six points of this article and praying the short prayer, I believe that you will discover the meaning of your life and begin a life full of divine meaning. Please let me know if you find this response helpful.
This really touched my heart and I think I have to cultivate a habit of reading bible because I want to grow spiritually strong.
Tila,
Just like our friend’s testimony of reading the Bible brought her into God’s salvation, daily Bible reading with prayer enables us to grow in God’s salvation. First Peter 2:2 says, “As newborn babes, long for the guileless milk of the word in order that by it you may grow unto salvation.” When we believe God’s word and receive the Lord Jesus, we are saved eternally. Then by drinking the milk of God’s word and feeding on the solid food in God’s Word we grow in His salvation to maturity in Christ. So building up a daily habit of reading the Bible has tremendous benefits.
Let us know how it goes…and keep reading even if it’s only a few verses and even when you don’t feel like it. In the long run, you won’t regret it. Thanks for your encouraging comment.
Dear Sir, I’m move with your words and please I will like you to send me more through my mail. Thank you and may The Almighty God see you through all your endeavours in life.
Asare,
In addition to posts on the Holding to Truth Blog you may enjoy checking out the many resources on the LSM.org and BfA.org sites. You can freely read some great books on ministrybooks.org and download some free PDFs at mass.ministrybooks.org
You actually make it appear really easy together with
your presentation but I in finding this topic to be really one thing that I think I might never understand.
It kind of feels too complex and extremely extensive for me.
I’m taking a look forward to your next post, I’ll try to
get the hold of it!
Bible reading takes on a new dimension when we realize that God intended us to take in His word for nourishment. In Matthew 4:4, the Lord Jesus said that “man shall not live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.” We need to breathe in what God breathed out. Simply come to the word with a turned heart and call on the Lord as you read. Chew on His word with thanks, praise and petitions. Don’t try for too much understanding but consider it as food supply that will metabolically wash you. Such an attitude will be very helpful to your reading. Thanks for the comment.
That is a good point that many lives could be changed by reading bible readings. Maybe it would be good to get some type of book to help me navigate through the bible properly. This is something I will have to look into sometime soon.
Reading the Bible is a vital practice that I would recommend for every believer from the earliest days of their Christian life. The words of the Bible are the language of prayer (Num. 14:17). They are also God’s means of enlightening our heart and speaking to us (Psalm 119:105, 130). In the pages of the Bible, we can find Christ, so that we may come to Him so that we may have eternal life (John 5:39-40; 6:63).
To navigate through the Bible properly, I would highly recommend the Life-study of the Bible by Witness Lee. It covers every book of the Bible, in its context, from the prospective of our experience of Christ as our life. The link takes you to ministrybooks.org where you can select any book of the Bible and move progressively through each chapter.
I hope you find this resource helpful as it have been a rich supply to me over many years and has inspired many of the posts on the HoldingtoTruth.com blog. Thanks for taking the time to comment.