Reading the Word

“Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy,
and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it,
because the time is near” (Revelation 1:3).

Here is a promised blessing to those who read or hear it and
take to heart what is written in it.

Periodically, I take an informal poll that goes something
like this:

How long have you been a Christian, in years?

How many times do you know that you have read the whole
Bible?

How many times do you know that you have read all of the New
Testament?

The last time was a few months ago in an evangelical church
in another state. We collected all of the answers, added up the years and
divided the total times into the total years. The results were, as I remember,
for the New Testament once every four years; for the whole Bible once every
eight years.

At a men’s conference a few years ago, the results were New
Testament once every 17 years, the whole Bible once every 27 years. If we have
a conference of consciously committed Christians, the time gets cut down to
every two years for the NT and every seven years for the whole Bible.

If a person is a slow reader, the whole Bible can be read in
80 hours. If you are an audio learner, you can hear it read aloud.

Do we not believe it is the Word of God?

Do we not want the blessing?

Are we afraid we will become godly?

This post coordinates with today’s reading in the Same
Page Summer Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading
plan, please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with
us.