We opened 2019 working through some important questions about Bible reading, all emailed in to us from you, the listeners. Thank you for your continued engagement with the podcast. Today's question comes from a listener in Germany named Michael. "Dear Pastor John, when does a lack of Bible reading become a sin?

I fear this trend in my own friends and our Western society. We have easy access to the Bible, but I feel like many Christians spend little or even almost no time in the Word. A 'Christian' that reads a lot and doesn't act upon it is not better either. Nevertheless, when would you start correcting a fellow believer for not spending enough time in the Word?" Let's take Michael's first question as the main one.

When does a lack of Bible reading become a sin? And my hope is that in giving a kind of triage of diminishing Bible reading, Michael might be able to discern when to step into his friend's life and exhort him. So here are my five symptoms of sinful diminishing of Bible reading.

When does diminishing Bible reading become a sin? How might we discern when our slacking off in Bible reading and meditation is becoming sinful? Number one, diminishing Bible reading and meditation is becoming sinful where it is owing to a loss of desperation for what the Bible alone can give. God's Word is designed like nothing else to give us glimpses of God Himself.

1 Samuel 3.21, "The Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the Word of the Lord." The Bible gives faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word. John 10.17. "We believe through the Apostles' Word." John 17.20. The Bible gives joy.

"These things I speak in the world, that you may have my joy fulfilled in yourself." John 17.13. The Bible gives holiness. "Sanctify them in the truth. Your Word is truth." John 17.17. Wherever diminishing Bible reading is owing to a loss of desperation for seeing God, trusting God, rejoicing in God, and holiness, as though these things don't matter or can be found without the Word, sin is taking hold.

Number two, diminishing Bible reading and meditation is becoming sinful where it is owing to disillusionment with the Bible because it has not been pursued by faith, but rather as a performance to win God's favor. Paul says, "Whatever is not from faith is sin." And that includes—he said that in Romans 14.23—that includes Bible reading that is not from faith.

Reading by faith means reading with a reliance on the great reality in Christ that God is 100% for us and that He will incline our hearts to His Word. Psalm 119.36. He'll open our eyes. Psalm 119.18. He'll satisfy our souls. Psalm 90.14. If we don't read by faith, we will be disillusioned.

And if diminishing Bible reading is owing to that disillusionment, it is sin. Number three, diminishing Bible reading and meditation is becoming sinful where the activities that replace it are not experienced as the fruit of it. In other words, it's right to stop reading your Bible in the morning and go to work if your work is experienced as a fruit of what you saw of God and savored of God in the Word.

God did not design the Bible to be read 18 hours a day so that we do nothing else. He designed the Bible as a tree that produces delicious fruit of living for the glory of God and the good of others. So the test is this. When we stop reading the Bible, is it because we are gladly experiencing its replacement as the fruit of it?

If not, then probably our lives are not the fruit of God's Word but an alien tree, and our diminishing Bible reading is becoming sinful. Number four, diminishing Bible reading and meditation is becoming sinful where we are drifting away from it because we have ceased to find in it something more precious than gold and sweeter than honey.

That's Psalm 19.10. "More to be desired are these words than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter than honey, and drippings from the honeycomb." This preciousness and this sweetness are meant to entice us back freely and joyfully to the Word so that we gladly say, "Oh, how I love your law.

It is my meditation all the day," Psalm 119.97. If our Bible reading is diminishing because we no longer embrace this preciousness or taste this sweetness, the diminishing is sin. Finally, number five, diminishing Bible reading and meditation is becoming sinful where it is owing to an immature, adolescent-like recoiling from the traditions we saw in our parents or in our church that seemed hypocritical and barren.

It's a mark of great immaturity in 20-somethings and 30-somethings and 40-somethings to refuse to do something well because your parents did it poorly, like refusing to be a doctor because your dad was a quack or refusing to enjoy dessert because your mom was overweight or refusing to listen to classical music because that's all they let you listen to when you're a teenager.

That's idiotic. That's immature. Don't be like that. Or refusing to read your Bible daily because your dad did it and he beat your mom. He was abusive and he read his Bible. That kind of immaturity is a tactical triumph of Satan, and you don't want to be Satan's lackey and act like an immature, adolescent follower of the evil one.

Perhaps the concluding word should be to all of us, if we begin to drift from reading and meditating on God's Word, we should say with Peter, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life," John 6, 68. Amen. That's a great text to end with, Pastor John.

Thank you. And we've now surpassed 1,300 total episodes, thanks to your interest and questions over the past six years and for your support as well. Thank you for sending this one in, Michael. You can search all of our episodes. You can read transcripts, even send us a question that you might have of your own, all at our online home at desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn.

Until Friday, we transition from Bible reading to marriage and hear from a woman who feels like she's drifting from her husband, and she wants 2019 to be different for their relationship. So what will it take? It's an important question. It's up next. I'm Tony Reinke, your host. We'll see you again on Friday.