A major goal of D-Life is to lead people to develop a life long habit of daily Bible reading. This alone is life changing. When we lead people to make SPACE in their lives for God’s Word every day, great spiritual growth will occur.
According to the Ed Stetzer, President of Lifeway Research, “Christians claim to believe the Bible is God’s Word. We claim it’s God’s divinely inspired, inerrant message to us. Yet despite this, we aren’t reading it.”
A recent LifeWay Research study found:
- Only 45 percent of those who regularly attend church read the Bible more than once a week.
- Over 40 percent of the people attending read their Bible occasionally, maybe once or twice a month.
- Almost 1 in 5 churchgoers say they never read the Bible—essentially the same number who read it every day.
These findings are sad. The fact that God, our eternal Creator, revealed Himself to us in His Word is a wonder of His grace. God’s will and His ways are clearly revealed. His great love for us is made known. His timeless truth is disclosed. It is a great insult to our merciful God for us to ignore and to neglect His Word.
The blessings of reading God’s Word are many.
Joshua 1:8 – This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Psalm 1:1-3 – Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
Psalm 119:105 – Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
John 8:31-32 – Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 15:7 – If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 – All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
With the promise of these tremendous blessings, why would anyone not read God’s Word daily? Perhaps many believe they are too busy. Some might think they cannot understand the Bible. Others may not have a plan for reading the Bible or may not think that daily Bible reading is that important. Some read daily devotional books, but not the Bible.
There are those who would like to read the Bible regularly. A frequent goal people make is to read through the Bible in a year. However, this goal is difficult for most. They fall behind and give up.
For this reason, in D-Life we have a simple Bible reading plan. We give people a goal they can achieve and set them up for success. The goal is simply to read one chapter of the Bible five days a week. By slowing down and reading only one chapter each day, you can read the Bible more deliberately and meditate on certain verses.
In D-Life, we want to make SPACE in our hearts for God’s Word by writing down one personal application point from each chapter. We make S-P-A-C-E by asking five simple questions as we read the chapter.
Is there a . . .
- Sin to confess?
- Promise to claim?
- Attitude to change?
- Command to obey?
- Example to follow?
In each chapter there will be at least one of these. Ask God to give you a personal word as you read. Let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart. As you ask these questions, let God show you a personal point of application. Psalm 119:18 is a great prayer to pray, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.”
When God speaks to your heart, you want to write it down. Keep a notebook of the personal application points that God reveals to you each day. Use one of the five questions each day in your notes. For example, “In John 3:16, I see a promise to claim. God loves me and has given me eternal life through my belief in His Son.”
It’s helpful to have a certain time and place where you meet alone with God each day for prayer and Bible reading. Make your daily time alone with God a major priority in your life.
You can imagine the spiritual impact it will make on the lives of men, women, college students, teenagers, and even children who develop the habit of daily Bible reading and writing down personal application points.
Accountability is important in helping people to develop these habits. Every week in our D-Groups we should ask if everyone read their five chapters. We should ask those in our group to share some of the application points they wrote in their notebooks.
Certainly some will want to read more than one chapter of the Bible each day. That’s not a problem. Everyone can read as much of the Bible as they desire. However, they must at least read their five chapters each week. Lives will be radically transformed when we disciple them to develop the habit of daily Bible reading.
