the Word

At the beginning of John's Gospel account of Jesus, John makes an amazing statement about who Jesus is, & why He came to earth.

John 1

1 In the beginning the Word already existed.

  The Word was with God,

  and the Word was God.

2 He existed in the beginning with God.

3 God created everything through him,

  and nothing was created except through him.

4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,

  and his life brought light to everyone.

5 The light shines in the darkness,

  and the darkness can never extinguish it.

  6 God sent a man, John the Baptist,7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony.

8 John himself was not the light;

he was simply a witness to tell about the light.

9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

10 He came into the very world he created,

but the world didn't recognize him.

11 He came to his own people,

and even they rejected him.

12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

13 They are reborn;

not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan,

but a birth that comes from God.

  14 So the Word became human and made his home among us.

He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness, grace & truth.

And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son.

  15 John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds,

"This is the one I was talking about when I said, 'Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.'"

  16 From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.

17 For the law was given through Moses,

but God's unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ.

18 No one has ever seen God.

But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father's heart.

He has revealed God to us.

Have you ever read these words before – all of them?

So many, many people who claim to follow Jesus have never read all of those words before.

Before God kicked my butt, & kicked me out of bed early in the mornings, starting in January of 2003, my lack of Bible reading was shamefully inconsistent (non-existent) & inadequate.

But since January, 2003, I have been reading His word every day, without fail.

I simply don't remember a day that I haven't.

That's not to brag – good grief! It's the bare minimum of what I should have been doing all along.

After about 6 weeks, I had gotten to the point where I couldn't miss – reading the Bible is life to me – it's what sustains me.

I sin every day – I sin less during the day when I read the Bible at the beginning of the day.

And another thing happens...

God speak to me through His word,

usually in the areas I'd just as soon He not speak to me about.

If you start to read the Bible each day, I can promise you this...

God will mess with you,

& He won't stop messing with you as long as you read the Bible.

But after 13 years of reading every day, there is absolutely, positively NO WAY I would go back to what I used to be.

Do you want to know what God wants you to be &/or do?

Read the Bible, every day, without fail.

Do you want to know what God thinks about you?

Read the Bible, every day, without fail.

Do you want God to speak to you – REALLY speak to you?

Read the Bible, every day, without fail.

Whatever you want or long for with God can be attained by doing one simple thing:

Read the Bible, every day, without fail.