How old were you the first time you read something from the Bible? If you grew up in a Christian home, it was probably at a very young age. If you didn’t grow up in a Christian home, you might not have been exposed to the Word of God until you were an adult. Either way, the Bible is readily available in the United States, at least for now. If you don’t have one personally, you can find one at the public library. Many families have multiple copies of the Bible and multiple versions. Right now I count seven different versions of the Bible in my office alone. That doesn’t begin to take into account the ones my husband and children have in their rooms. The Bible is accessable for Americans.
So why aren’t more people reading it, discussing it, and applying it in their lives today? Deuteronomy 6:4-9 says “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.”
American Christians have the Word of God easily accessible and we have been commanded to spend time studying it, diligently teach it, talk about it, and take it everywhere we go, yet so few do. When was the last time you had a conversation about the Word of God outside of a church setting? The Word of God is like a chest full of precious treasure and in many houses it is as much a dust collector as picture frame. We find time to talk about Facebook, American Idol, and the latest sporting event, but we don’t take time to share what the Lord is revealing to us through His Word.
It’s time to embrace the entire Bible and apply it to our lives daily. There will be a day, and it may be sooner than we think, when the Bible will not be as accessible in our country as it has always been. When that happens, if we have meditated on it day and night, discussed with our friends and neighbors, and taught it to our children, then it shall be on our hearts so we will never lose it.