Should I Read My Bible Daily?
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - This is a big week for us at Desiring God.
00:00:06.900 | We will be hosting our national conference,
00:00:08.720 | which begins Friday at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
00:00:11.380 | This will be our 12th national conference
00:00:13.300 | and it will be our final national conference.
00:00:15.900 | And I know a lot of listeners plan to be there
00:00:18.380 | in person this weekend.
00:00:19.860 | It will also be a special conference for you, Pastor John,
00:00:21.960 | because you'll be giving five of the sessions yourself.
00:00:25.140 | You've never done that.
00:00:26.540 | The whole point of this conference is to show
00:00:27.940 | how relevant the Bible is for daily life.
00:00:29.700 | So Pastor John, what would you say to a listener,
00:00:31.580 | a man or a woman listening to this episode right now,
00:00:33.980 | who says, if they're really honest about it,
00:00:36.900 | that the Bible doesn't seem very relevant
00:00:39.420 | to their average day, to where they work,
00:00:41.540 | to where they live?
00:00:42.820 | Why do I need to read the Bible every day?
00:00:45.660 | How would you answer that?
00:00:47.280 | - Well, one thing I know for sure
00:00:50.580 | in response to this question,
00:00:52.620 | and another thing I don't know.
00:00:56.220 | What I know is that the Bible is relevant
00:01:00.260 | to this person's average day, where he lives and works.
00:01:05.260 | Say why in just a minute.
00:01:07.580 | And what I don't know is what his goals are
00:01:11.980 | in life and work.
00:01:15.100 | And the reason that matters is that you can have goals
00:01:19.220 | at work or in life, which will put you so out of sync
00:01:25.460 | with the Bible that you find the Bible to be annoying
00:01:29.980 | or condemning or boring,
00:01:32.580 | because all it's teaching is in a different direction
00:01:36.180 | from the direction you're going.
00:01:38.740 | And I don't know where this question is coming from
00:01:42.860 | in terms of spiritual life or what the goals are.
00:01:46.620 | So let me go back to my first question.
00:01:48.060 | We'll circle around to the other one.
00:01:50.220 | I know the Bible is relevant to this person's daily life.
00:01:54.140 | He says he doesn't feel like it is.
00:01:55.940 | I know it is.
00:01:57.360 | And here's how I know.
00:01:58.900 | The Bible says, "Whether you eat or drink
00:02:01.380 | or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
00:02:05.100 | The Bible says, "Render service with a goodwill
00:02:09.420 | as to the Lord and not to man."
00:02:11.260 | So at work, is he rendering service to the Lord,
00:02:14.340 | not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does,
00:02:18.360 | he will receive back from the Lord.
00:02:20.340 | So this person's life and job fits in the category
00:02:25.340 | of whatever he does and rendering service.
00:02:30.820 | At least it ought to.
00:02:33.260 | "All of life is to be lived to the glory of God.
00:02:38.260 | And only in the Bible can we not only learn how to do this,
00:02:43.340 | but find the spiritual power to do it."
00:02:49.060 | So I say again, I don't know if this person has that goal.
00:02:54.060 | If his passion is not to glorify God in his work
00:02:58.380 | and not to do it as to the Lord,
00:03:00.500 | then probably the Bible is gonna seem foreign, useless.
00:03:03.700 | But here's some questions I would ask to test,
00:03:06.740 | have him test or her test the relevance of the Bible.
00:03:10.700 | Are you ever tempted to grumble at work or complain?
00:03:14.780 | Well, Philippians 2:15 is relevant
00:03:17.220 | and shows a glorious way to live without grumbling.
00:03:21.140 | Are you ever tempted to be greedy at work
00:03:24.100 | or to take something that's not yours?
00:03:26.340 | The Bible has lots to say about covetousness
00:03:28.660 | and greed and stealing and how to be so content in Christ,
00:03:32.180 | you're free at work to be generous.
00:03:34.460 | Are you ever tempted to be worried or anxious at work?
00:03:39.460 | Everyone is.
00:03:41.060 | And the Bible talks about this
00:03:42.660 | almost as much as it does anything.
00:03:44.380 | The most common command in the Bible is fear not.
00:03:47.340 | Anybody who has any fears at work, the Bible's relevant.
00:03:50.180 | Are you ever tempted to brag at work or to boast
00:03:53.300 | or to draw attention to your self
00:03:56.980 | and your superiority in some area?
00:03:59.780 | The Bible's full of wisdom about pride and humility
00:04:03.080 | and the effect it has on relationships.
00:04:05.360 | Are you ever tempted at work to be angry with anybody?
00:04:08.540 | Do you deal with temper issues?
00:04:10.540 | Are there strained relationships
00:04:12.940 | because you're so frustrated with other people?
00:04:16.660 | The Bible deals over and over again with the issue of anger
00:04:21.020 | and goes a lot deeper in that issue
00:04:23.460 | than any psychology can today.
00:04:25.740 | Are you ever tempted to cut corners at work,
00:04:29.340 | not to do the whole work expected,
00:04:31.260 | like punch out early or come in late or work half-heartedly?
00:04:36.260 | The Bible is so relevant to the quality of our work.
00:04:42.140 | Are you ever tempted sexually at work
00:04:45.340 | to lust or to be unfaithful?
00:04:47.660 | And the Bible's full of relevant materials,
00:04:50.380 | a robust view of sexuality that puts it all
00:04:54.600 | in a good perspective in a proper place.
00:04:57.960 | Are you ever tempted to feel sorry for yourself at work,
00:05:01.060 | to lick your own wounds because someone spoke evil of you
00:05:04.460 | or you got passed over for a promotion?
00:05:06.740 | And the Bible's shot through with dynamics of life
00:05:10.940 | that help us deal with self-pity.
00:05:14.140 | Do you ever struggle with guilt at work,
00:05:16.980 | feelings that just come over you that are a vague sense
00:05:21.700 | that you're not as good as you should be
00:05:23.380 | or maybe you really failed at something
00:05:25.860 | you should have succeeded at by your own standards?
00:05:28.700 | And there's no remedy except the ultimate remedy
00:05:33.300 | given in the Bible for guilt.
00:05:36.200 | Are there lost people at work that you care about?
00:05:39.820 | You don't want them to go to hell?
00:05:42.300 | Where are you gonna get help for dealing with them
00:05:45.100 | in the hope of giving them life except in the Bible?
00:05:48.620 | Where are you gonna get strength and courage and boldness
00:05:50.960 | and wisdom for how to deal with those people?
00:05:53.780 | So my answer is it is so obvious the Bible is relevant
00:05:57.620 | for this fellow's work and his life,
00:06:00.420 | but really it comes down to this.
00:06:02.780 | Does he or she want to see
00:06:07.300 | the greatest treasure in the universe?
00:06:09.660 | Does he desire to know Jesus
00:06:14.300 | and enjoy Jesus more than anything?
00:06:16.600 | Does he love people so much that he grieves over the fact
00:06:20.420 | that they don't know Jesus
00:06:22.460 | and will be lost forever without him?
00:06:24.760 | That's the question.
00:06:26.260 | If Jesus is supreme in this person's life,
00:06:29.180 | if he's supreme, if the passion is to know him above all,
00:06:33.340 | if the passion is to desire him and enjoy him
00:06:37.000 | and treasure him more than anything,
00:06:39.460 | if the passion is to bring as many people with you
00:06:43.420 | as you can into that experience,
00:06:45.620 | then you can't live without the Bible.
00:06:48.220 | It's the most relevant book in the world.
00:06:53.000 | - Yes, amen.
00:06:54.020 | Thank you, Pastor John.
00:06:55.300 | And we'll be back tomorrow to address another question
00:06:57.460 | that we get, and it's this.
00:06:59.260 | If I go to church on Sundays and listen well
00:07:01.340 | to my pastor's faithful preaching,
00:07:03.100 | why do I need to labor to read and understand
00:07:04.980 | the Bible on my own?
00:07:06.900 | We'll hear Pastor John respond to that tomorrow.
00:07:08.780 | I'm your host, Tony Reike.
00:07:09.700 | Thanks for listening to the Ask Pastor John podcast.
00:07:12.300 | (upbeat music)
00:07:14.880 | (upbeat music)
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