Okay, so let’s get real here.  Any Bible believing, church going Christian will tell you that WE stand on the Word of God.  I read an alarming, well-documented statistic the other day that literally broke my heart and made me angry at the same time!! 

Bible believing churches/denominations across this country recently polled members of their congregations with one simple question.  Each person received a small post-it size piece of paper; then asked to answer the following question with a number.  That was all — no name required.  Complete anonymity.  I can imagine some of the respondents smiled while others squirmed– inside their hearts that it.  The question and it’s findings:

How many times a week do you read your Bible, outside of during a church service or Bible study group?

The results —  Only 45% of these Christians read the Word at least once a week.  The other 55% — ZERO!

That means over half of church attending Christians in today’s society NEVER even pick up the Word, except to carry it along to church as an accessory to their wardrobe.  Does that stir the Spirit within you?  It should, especially if you’re in 55 percentile!  Now if you’re in the 45th percentile group, you’re still not doing too great if the number is less that 17 (my opinion only).  Where’s I come up with that number you ask?  Well morning and evening (as David wrote in the Psalms)= 14, Sunday morn 1, Sunday evening 1, midweek service 1.

I would like to share with you a short quiz I read sometime back.  The responses are strictly between you and  our Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  The numbers 1-10 for each question are self-explanatory.

1.)  I am consistent each day, and all day long, in reading, meditating on, and thinking about the Bible and what God is teaching me through His Word.

1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     10
Not at all                                  All the time

2.)  I read the Bible in order to discover what it has to say about every area of life

1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     10
Not at all                                   All the time

3) Whenever I do read the Bible, I’m looking for ways that I might grow, or that I might help others grow in the Lord, or come to know Him.

1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     10
Not at all                                  All the time

4) I can hardly wait to get time in the Bible each day; I eagerly look forward to every moment of reading, studying, meditating on—drinking in!—the Word of God.

1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     10
Not at all                                  All the time

5) I read through all of the Scripture regularly, and I’m always looking for new ways that the Bible can speak to my life, my society, my culture, and the world in which I live.

1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     10
Not at all                                  All the time

6) The Bible is changing my life; I can see it and my friends comment on it. And I’m eager to see it change the lives of others as well.

1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     10
Not at all                                  All the time

 Can you describe yourself as a person of the Book?  Or do you just have a kind of loose adherence to Scripture as somehow a part of your life, although not in any consistent or transforming way? What have you learned about your own commitment to the Bible, and what, if anything has this quiz suggested to you about any changes you need to make?

As the followers of Christ we have been given His Word as a sacred trust as written in Psalm 147:19-20 “He shews His word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.”  Remember, we as adopted children through the blood of Christ these verses pertain to Christians as well .

God gave us the Bible, and He sent His Spirit to lead us into all truth and teach us the things we need to know, as we compare one section of Scripture with another and listen for His Voice to instruct, convict, and transform us  “Now we have received , not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak , not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual”  1 Corinthians 2:12-13.

Finally, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in His parting words to His disciples before ascending the Father tells us simply He appointed to us the ministry of the Word for the purpose of making all the nations disciples And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying , All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo,  I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.  Matthew 28:18-20

But He said , “Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it”  Luke 11:28

And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the Word of God with boldness.  Acts 4:31

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:  Ephesians 6:17

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.  Psalm 119:11

As for God, His way is perfect: the Word of the LORD is tried : He is a buckler to all those that trust in him. Psalm 18:20

The grass withers, the flower fades: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.  Isaiah 40:8