A.W. Tozer is quoted as saying: “Anything that keeps me from my Bible is my enemy, however harmless it may appear to be.” At first glance, this quote may seem to be extreme, but I wonder if its Biblical. I’ve watched as there has been an apparent trend in the Church where the importance of the Bible is diminished, ignored, or even rejected. There is a growing ignorance among God’s people concerning the Word of God and thus a growing disconnect concerning the true character, nature, and will of God.
The Apostle Paul reminds us of this concerning the Bible: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV). Within the pages of Scripture, we see the end goal: that we as the men and women of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. If we are ignorant of the Scripture, the result is that we simply don’t know the God of the Bible and we are not equipped for every good work.
As Paul reminds us, Scripture is given for four primary purposes, each one that the church desperately needs. We see the four areas Paul highlighted:
- Teaching – what is right
- Reproof – what is wrong
- Correction – what needs to change in our lives in light of those first two truths
- Training – how to live our lives in a way that honors and pleases God
Thinking back to Tozer’s quote, anything that keeps us from our Bible is keeping us from knowing God and His perfect will for our lives. Because of this ignorance, we fail to know the God we claim to serve. Because of this ignorance, many are led astray by false teachers, unbiblical teaching, and spirits that are not from God. The Apostle John reminds us: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1 ESV) How can we test these spirts? By the Word of God.
Once I heard of a woman who came to a pastor and boldly proclaimed, “I’ve decided to divorce my husband. I’ve prayed and I believe this is what God wants me to do.” Do you see the trap this woman (and so many others) fell into? She believed that God had told her to do something that His word expressly told her not to do. If this woman had simply read, believed, and applied the Word of God, she would have known that it is never God’s will for a marriage to end in divorce.
Often the things that keep us from our Bible appear to be harmless. Sometimes the things that keep us from our Bible can even be good tings that we put in place of the most important thing. Question, what (or who) is it that often keeps you from your personal devotion time? What changes might you need to make in order to ensure that nothing keeps you from that exceptionaly important time?
If I could add one thought to what Tozer has said, anything that tries to keep you from regularly meeting with God’s people, whether that is at church, small group, or Bible study, is also an enemy to your growth as a follower of Jesus. If what is keeping you from your Bible or being with God’s people is a person, I would urge you to remember as Christians we are called to love and pray for our enemies. Still for others, you may need to give up something to be more intentional about your Bible study time.
I’ll leave you with a thought about how small, seemingly insignificant moments can lead you to a place you never imagined you’d be. One person recounts it this way: “In a recent department meeting we discussed the importance of making adjustments when things get off course. An Air Force pilot said that for every one degree a plane gets off course, you will miss your targeted landing spot by 92 feet for every mile you fly. If you stayed just one degree off course from JFK in New York to LAX in California, you would wind up 40 miles off in the Pacific Ocean. One degree off course for an extended amount of time can lead your life way off course. Most of the time, it’s not one big event that shapes our lives negatively. It’s so often that 1 degree that got off course 5 years ago that never got examined.”*
Pause and prayerfully consider, is your desire to know Christ more and to walk in close intimacy with Him? Or, is your desire for your relationship with God to grow cold and distant? Now pray and ask God to reveal what changes you need to make in your life. Then, write out the thoughts God prompts you with and by His grace and strength, come up with a plan to make consistent changes to be more intentional about your discipleship and devotion.
*Quoted from article from Pennington & Trimm Alarm Services blog article
