No one wants to waste time.  No one likes to spend a lot of time and energy working on a project only to see that all their effort was in vain.  If I spend time writing this and no one reads it, how do you think I would feel?  (So make sure you finish reading this, okay?)  What happens when a person thinks that studying the Bible is a waste of time?  Is that one of the reasons why people fail to take the time to study the Bible regularly, consistently, and intensely?

Both our attitude and practice toward Bible-reading needs to change if it will become precious to us and change our hearts.  A Christian’s longing for the Bible is compared to newborn babies who “long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation” (1 Peter 2:1-2). 

The Bible is a spiritual food for the soul of the believer.  Without this spiritual food the soul will lack the nutrients and energy needed for life, resulting in starvation of the soul.  It leaves the soul emaciated; without the ability to fight off the disease of temptation and affliction.  An emaciated soul gives up easily in the face of problems and gets distracted with the basic necessitates of life (see Mark 4:3-20).  In many cases, starvation from God’s Word results in the spiritual death – the absence of any spiritual life whatsoever.  A spiritual life that was once vibrant in its worship and Christian devotion can easily an empty husk of a person without the love of God and His ways. 

God asks us “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?”  In today’s age, God asks His people why they focus their attention on television, movies, newspapers, books, video games, radio, family, or fun out with others while neglecting our relationship with God Himself.  God knows His people try to eak out some satisfaction in these things, He knows that they do not satisfy, and He asks us why we would want something that leaves us always hungry.

In His grace, God offers to satisfy His people.  “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat.  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. … Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in rich food” (Isaiah 55:1-2).  God invites us to satisfaction, to fullness, and to absolute delight.  He promises that everyone who drinks deeply from the Word will overflow with joy.  Best of all, this meal is free.  It is a meal of grace – unearned favor, without a price tag, bringing complete satisfaction.  The meal was paid for by another man, by Jesus Christ who prepared this meal when He offered Himself on the cross to His people (John 6:35).

So the only thing that keeps us from this meal is ourselves.  There is an attitudinal change we must make in our lives to enjoy it.  We must remember how badly we need God’s Word and make every effort to immerse ourselves in it.  We need daily time in God’s Word to prepare our soul for the needs of that day.  The intense study of key truths through Sunday School is critical to forming a correct perception of this world.  In every sermon we learn how God wants us to live.  Our Care Groups give the chance to process things as a group.

But it makes no difference how much we hear God’s Word if we don’t do anything about it.  The devil does not care how often we hear biblical preaching or read our Bible.  In fact, he loves it when we hear it a lot just as long as it doesn’t sink into our hearts and actions.  Hearing without doing leaves us ripe for temptation, temptation not just toward outward heinous sins, but also open leaves us open to spiritual pride, lack of discipline, and self-sufficiency.

We must hunger for God’s Word and let that hunger enter the deepest parts of our soul.  This is a hunger we can and must cultivate for the strengthening of our souls.

We can find much refreshment through meditation on God’s Word.  Christian meditation means taking a small passage, asking God for instruction from the passage, and then reading that passage until our heart is affected.  When we meditate, we may learn something about God, we may see some glaring sin, or we may learn a command that we need to apply that day.  Once we see the goodness of God in that passage, then we can pray – praying for help, praying for opportunity, or thanking God for who He is.  And, no matter what the passage teaches us, we can praise God that as He feeds us our souls are being nourished with life-giving nutrients.