A young boy noticed a large, dust-covered book on a high shelf in his home. His curiosity was aroused, so he asked his mother about it. Embarrassed, she hastily explained, “Oh, that’s a Bible. That’s God’s Book.” He thought for a moment and then said, “Well, Mom, if that’s God’s Book, why don’t we give it back to Him? Nobody around here uses it!”
Every 10 years the American Bible Society and Barna Research do a national survey called “The State of the Bible.” Last year, 2020 was the year they refreshed their study and here’s what they discovered: 35% of all Americans say they never read the Bible, up from 25% in 2011. 60% of churchgoers said they personally read the Bible less than five times a year!
If that wasn’t bad enough here the real kicker: “In the early days of COVID-19, as uncertainty swirled and people adjusted to the difficult realities of isolation, many turned to the Bible as a source of hope. Bible sales surged. Yet for all the extra Bible sales, and despite many people having more free time on their hands because of quarantine, unemployment, and other factors, Bible engagement actually declined in 2020. In 2020, 1 in 3 Christians quit church all together.”[1]
Isn’t it ironic that we live in an age where we have more access to the Bible than ever before – and yet we are the generation who cares the least about the Scriptures? Does it trouble you that we spend more time on social media, video games and fantasy football than the Bible?
The prophet Amos cried out to God’s people long ago about their neglect of God’s Word, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11).
I understand the struggle. The Bible is not an easy book to study. The Old Testament is strange and intimidating. The book of Revelation scares people. Chance are you’re probably going to read something in there that’s going to confront a sin problem in your life, and you will be convicted.
However, If you want to have a maximum impact for Jesus, then you must develop a steady diet of taking in the Word of God on a regular basis. How can we ever lead anyone to Jesus if we don’t know the Gospel? How can we ever expect to grow spiritually if we are only eating one serving a week? How can we ever be ready to pour out God’s word and minister to others if we aren’t pouring in?
Dave Brannon a writer for Our Daily Bread once told a story. When Mary Jones was 10 years old, she began saving money for something special she wanted to buy. She babysat, tended neighbors’ gardens, and sold eggs from her own chickens. By the time she was 16, she had accumulated enough money to get what she so desperately wanted. Was it a new car? A fresh wardrobe? A Nintendo? No, Mary Jones was 16 in the year 1800, and what she had been saving for was a Bible. But there was no place to buy one in the tiny Welsh village where she lived, so she walked to Bala—25 miles away. There Rev. Thomas Charles had one Bible left to sell, and after some convincing, Mary talked him into selling it to her. Because of Mary’s hunger for the Bible, Rev. Charles and others began discussing the need of making the Scriptures more readily available. The British and Foreign Bible Society was started, and during the next 100 years it distributed more than 200 million copies of God’s Word worldwide. To Mary, nothing was more important than the Bible, and her persistence paid huge spiritual dividends. Do we treasure God’s Word as much?[2]
Lord help us to have the same desire as the Psalmist, “14 In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. 15 I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. 16 I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.” (Ps. 119:14-16) -DM
[1]
Alex Goodwin, 3 Takeaways from ‘The State of the Bible 2020,’” institute for
Bible Reading, 1 Aug. 2020 <https://instituteforbiblereading.org/3-takeaways-from-barna-state-of-the-bible-2020/>
[2]
Dave Brannon, “Mary’s Bible,” Our Daily Bread, 9 February 1994, <https://odb.org/US/1994/02/09/marys-bible>
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