When I left the first church I served in Michigan to move to Indiana, they gave me a gas grill as a going away present. When we arrived at our new home, my brother-in-law and I unpacked the parts from the box and began to assemble the new grill. As we completed the task, we found there were still parts in the box. Upon investigation, we learned that these parts were important, and we had to disassemble the grill and start over to get them in their proper place. You have probably guessed the reason for this error. Like most men, we chose to do the assembly without the assistance of the instruction manual. This not only caused a loss of time as we had to go back to the beginning, but there was also a lot of frustration involved.
This failure to read the instructions was not life altering, just inconvenient. However, this tendency to assume to can function without instructions has more devastating consequences when we try get through the struggles of life with this practice. And it is so unnecessary.
God never intended us to live life without an instruction manual. For this reason, he provided us the perfect copy of one to guide each step of our life journey. We refer to it as the Bible. This is God’s message to men, not just to read when it is convenient, but to scour for the information we need to apply to our lives each day to survive in this difficult world. If we ignore it, there is a good chance we may mess up. While there is forgiveness available through Christ, there are other consequences to life’s failures that we can’t just go back and fix. So, it seems to make sense to use the instruction manual to do our best to do life right in the first place.
Psalm 119 gives us a clear understanding of the value of Scripture in our lives. Verse 103 says, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” If we approach the Bible with this mindset instead of looking at our reading as a chore or unwelcome necessity, God is more able to speak to us. In verse 105, we learn that, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Light not only allows us to see where we are going, but also reveals those hinderances that will trip us up if we don’t spot them. Verse 114 tells us God’s Word provides our protection, “You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.” Verse 147, “I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word.” The uncertainty of government decisions can be quieted by time in the Bible according to verse 161, “Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart trembles at your word.” We find relief from the stresses of life in the Holy Scripture, Psalm 130:5, I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.
With all these benefits, it is easy to see why Satan works so hard to keep us away from Scripture. He knows it can be our lifeblood and protection. Therefore we must make a concerted effort to defeat his attempts to keep us vulnerable.
Remember a principle of discipline: A good habit is as hard to break as a bad habit. Here are some pointers in establishing a good habit in the Word of God: 1) Set a specific “appointment” each day to spend time reading the Word. It may only be five minutes but if it becomes consistent, it can grow. 2) Make the appointment an unchangeable priority. You may simply need to get up five minutes earlier in the morning to make it a routine. 3) Before you read, ask God’s Spirit to enlighten your mind to what he wants you to take away from your reading. 4) As you read, choose one word, phrase, or thought to ponder throughout your day. See what God might show you as encouragement or challenge as you think about it. 5) Do it again the next day.
Remember, failure to follow directions assembling a gas grill is easy to fix. Failure in our lives may not come back together so easily. It’s better with the instruction manual.