Summer Sorensen

As a Christian who is committed to growing in my relationship with God through Christ, I’ve been reading the Bible for many years. While I haven’t always been as consistent as I would prefer, I always come back to it after an absence, whether a day or a few months. This post outlines why I love the Bible. And gives some reasons you might consider loving it too!

In an earlier post about sanctification, I expressed my amazement about how God works in our lives as we follow Him. One such way is by giving us a greater love for Him and His word, the Holy Bible. I liken it to drinking water. If you haven’t been drinking enough water, you may not even know you’re dehydrated. But once you start guzzling, it is remarkable how quickly your insides thank you and then how a natural thirst is born. This thirst can only be satisfied by drinking more water.

Such is reading the Bible to a Christian. I’ve gone for weeks at a time without cracking open the word. Other times I have hurriedly rushed through a few passages out of a sense of obligation to “get it done.” I had only a vague sense of how thirsty I was. 

A Love That Has Unfolded Over Time

I am so grateful that, through that process of sanctification I mentioned above, God has graciously prompted me to become more and more faithful in reading His word every day. As I have done so, its treasures have become more and more evident, and my thirst has become stronger.

Matthew 13:44 comes to mind:

” The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

Or the following parable in vs. 45-46:

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

Taking the term “kingdom of heaven” to encompass all that God has for His children both in the present life and the one to come, it makes perfect sense that becoming a student of His words given to us in the Bible fit naturally in the seeking of the kingdom as described.

If I were to attempt to fully explain how God’s word has shaped me, and how it continues to get better all the time, this post would be unbearably long. And I might still be sitting at my keyboard as a skeleton, unable to finish before my time on earth is up. So in the interest of relative brevity, here are:

Three Reasons Why I love the Bible

1. As the living and active word (Hebrews 4:12), what I learn is always dynamic.
   No matter how many times I read a passage, it is fresh and new when I read it again. Because of its active quality, it speaks its wisdom consistently regardless of the frame of mind I’m in, or my circumstances. I may glean certain facts and applications while reading, then when I return to that same section much later, what I learn may be entirely different.
2. There is more to it than I’ll ever be able to know in full in this life.
   The more I read it, the more I realize I don’t know. The layers are unending, it seems. There is so much interconnection, so many fulfilled and yet-to-be-fulfilled prophecies, I can think of no better term for it than mind-blowing. With each layer I peel back, it gives me greater anticipation of digging to find the next layer.
3. It is self-authenticating.
   It not only claims to be divine but shows itself to be divine by the way it works in our lives, hence, this post. For a quick explanation on self-authenticating Scripture, check out this three-minute video.

In conclusion, of late I’ve found myself growing more and more delighted by God and His word, by His grace. This delight, while it has been present off-and-on over the years, has become more intense and more intentional as I have been faithful to follow him (also by His grace). If you struggle with reading God’s word, be encouraged. He will show up in its pages as you read through them.

Comments or questions? Bring them on! Thank you for reading.