READ THE BIBLE EVERY DAY

If you are like me, an evangelical Christian, you were told after conversion that you were to read the bible every day, pray and witness.

It occurred to me the other day that this command was and is the product of cultural tradition. Nowhere in the New Testament do you read that we are to read the bible every day. Nowhere in the New Testament Church do you read of believers reading the bible every day.

There is a simple reason for this and that is they didn’t have a bible to read. They were a sect of Judaism and they had the Old Testament, but that does not contain anything like what is written in the New Testament so its ability to speak to the growth of the individual believer is limited.

The Old Testament has as its main purpose a record of the creation; God’s dealing with the Jews; the prophetic revelation of the coming Messiah. It does not speak to the New Testament Church about its life and practices.

So where did the New Testament Church gets its direction and instruction?

First, from the apostles themselves. It says in Acts 2:42 that they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching.

Second, from each other. Again in the same passage it says that they met daily. If you met daily with the members of your church what would you talk about? In all probability it would be about your day and the problems and successes you had encountered or if God had used you to perform some supernatural act. Each meeting would have probably been a “how to”.

Third, and this was much later, the letters that were written by mainly the apostles and circulated amongst the churches.

When you put everything in perspective, you don’t see much instruction about personal prayer and reading. I know from experience there is much to be gained by being exposed to each other’s lives. Having been in a church where we virtually met daily, I can attest to the value of daily fellowship.

Having been in churches where people only meet in formal meetings, I can attest to the fact that you live an “orphan” Christian experience as a result. You muddle through as best you can.

Having said that, one is frequently confronted with the verse in 2 Tim 2:15 which says “do your best to present yourself (singular) to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."

First, this is written by Paul to Timothy as a specific instruction for him. it is not written to the believers in the church.

Second, it has nothing to do with daily prayer or bible study. The original Greek says study, which means to “use speed and make an effort”; one approved which means “be acceptable”; rightly dividing which means “dissect and expound correctly”. So Paul is telling Timothy to make haste to be acceptable to God through dissecting and expounding the verbal instruction and written letters correctly. It is not an instruction for daily prayer and bible study.

The King James Version puts it like this “Therefore, my brothers, stand fast and hold the teachings which you have been taught, whether by word or by our letter.”

“By word or letter”. If this verse is going to be used to claim a practice the individual Christian should do, then one has to stand fast to the teaching in the letters to the churches in the New Testament, and there is nothing there about daily personal prayer and bible study.

There is however, much teaching about meeting daily in homes.