Salvation changes a person from the inside out, and changes how they see life.  Previously, they saw life as living for themselves, and now they see life as living for God. 

“…he (Jesus) died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” (2 Corinthians 5:15)

These are two totally different views with two totally different results. Think of it as simply being able to see life the way that God sees life. The Bible is what God uses to reveal exactly how He thinks, and so the more time we spend in God’s Word, the more we begin to understand His expectations of our life.

Is spending time reading the Bible really that important for the Christian life?

Reading the Bible is a very important part of how a Christian grows spiritually.  It would be similar to how a newborn baby grows.  They are fed milk, and as they grow, they begin to eat more solid foods, and then by the time that they become a young person they can eat anything.  However, if they never eat, they will never grow. The same is true of Christians, the more time that the believer spends in God’s Word, the more they will grow spiritually.  “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow…” (1 Peter 2:2)

Jesus told His disciples that the words that He was speaking to them were “spirit and life.” That phrase means is that His Words were spiritual words that were life giving and life transforming.

So, how does the Holy Spirit use the Word of God in a believer’s life?

It is really very simple.  The Bible is the primary means that God uses to teach believers.  The more that they learn what the Bible says and what it means, then the more that the Holy Spirit will use those truths to transform their life.  John 17:17 expresses it this way, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”

What this verse says is that God’s truth is what He uses to actually change a person.  It is what God uses to teach us and to transform our life into becoming more and more like His Son.  When we read it, the Holy Spirit begins to teach us truth that we never knew or understood before, and over a period of time that truth is embraced in our life and by applying it to our life, we begin to be changed.

What will happen if I am not able to spend meaningful time in God’s Word?

That is not an easy question to answer because some believers may not even have a Bible.  Once, when I was in Zimbabwe sharing Jesus in a village out in the rural areas, over 170 people came to Christ over five days.  That was great, but there was one problem: no one actually had a Bible.  So, I gave my extra Bible to a man who had been saved. He was the only person in his village of about 250 people who had a Bible.  In most parts of the world, people do have access to God’s Word.  There are more copies of the Bible than any other book in the world.  Generally the main reason that people do not spend time in God’s Word is because they become very busy with all kinds of activities in their life, and they stop reading God’s Word.  Many Christians live such busy lives that they simply feel that they do not have enough time to invest in studying God’s Word – so they don’t.  When that happens, they often revert back to how they use to live before they were saved.

So what should be my goals when it comes to studying God’s Word?

Our Scripture verse for this study is Romans 12:2 and says the following,

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

We simply need to realize how important reading God’s Word actually is for the Christian life.  The battlefield is always the mind because if the enemy can just get a person to think wrong, then he knows that they will live wrong.  That is all he wants – for us to think the way he thinks.  He is always planting false and ungodly ideas into people’s minds, so if we do not have God’s Word strongly planted in our mind, then most likely we will embrace something that is clearly outside of God’s will for our life.  As a new believer, just stay the course of spending time in God’s Word and the Holy Spirit will continue to help you grow in a way that honors Christ.