Reading the Bible is one of the greatest habits we can form. I call it a “Holy Habit” because it can transform our spirit and our life! Sometimes we set goals to read the Bible through in a year or try to read the Bible everyday. While approaches like these can be helpful, they can also be misdirected. The goal of reading the Bible is not so we can say we read it or that we have read it from beginning to end. The primary goal of reading scripture is for spiritual and life transformation.
Reading the Bible will totally change your life!
Reading the Bible for the sake of reading the Bible is where most people start. Many people feel that it is something like a duty they should do because they are Christian or even because they truly have a desire to grow spiritually.
I’d like to offer another approach to reading scripture. What if doctors discovered that reading scripture would actually prolong your life and improve your quality of life at the same time?! What if psychologists were to release new research revealing that reading the Bible on a regular basis actually improved your emotional state and ability to deal with stress in life?! Would you want to read it then?!
Well here’s the deal. . . reading the Bible regularly will not only improve the quality of your life and your ability to deal with stress. . . it will radically transform your life from the inside-out!
In the next several posts I will offer 5 important reasons to spend time reading scripture.
1. Guidance
One of the best times to open up the Bible and read it is when we need guidance. Have you ever 
been driving down the road only to reach a fork in the road and not know which way to go? You check the map from Mapquest and the fork is not even there! You tap your GPS and it offers no help. We frequently approach forks in the road of life. When we do, the Bible can provide the guidance we need to continue on our journey.
Prayer
Lord, when faced with decisions about which way to travel down the road of life speak to me through your Holy Word so that I may discover the direction that leads to you. Amen.
After traveling out west this spring in a rental car which had a GPS, I did a sermon from Proverbs 3:5-6 on “God’s GPS.” I had five comparisons between the voice of God and the voice of the GPS:
To follow either God or the GPS:
1. First, you have to learn some things.
2. A second principle, you must Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
3. A third point of comparison: Sometimes the voice is silent.
4. A fourth point of comparison: Sometimes we make wrong choices.
5. A fifth point of comparison: God WILL direct us, if we let Him.
P. S.
I told Pansy while we were still in California or Nevada or somewhere, that we had to have a GPS, Soon after we got home, we got one!