Everyone wants to be happy; everyone wants to live a life free from shame and regret.
The challenge is how to do that.
Psalm 119 provides the answer:
Happy are all who perfectly follow the laws of God. 2 Happy are all who search for God and always do his will, 3 rejecting compromise with evil and walking only in his paths. 4 You have given us your laws to obey— 5 oh, how I want to follow them consistently. 6 Then I will not be disgraced, [NIV translates this “I will not be put to shame] for I will have a clean record. Ps. 119: 1-6
The Reformation Study Bible puts this passage in the context of our relationship to God:
God entered into a covenant relationship with Israel freely out of grace, and within that relationship God gave them His law to obey. He was not asking them to earn His favor, or pay for their redemption. It was the way of thankful obedience for those in covenant with Him.
In summary, based on what our Lord tells us in his Word, we can live a happy life, free from shame and regret (though in the fine print this does not mean a life free from challenge and pain), if we follow God’s laws.
What we need to do before we can follow God’s laws
As we approach the New Year, a new day, or any new chapter of our lives we need to recognize that if we call ourselves followers of Jesus that we must learn to live the way he wants us to.
At the same time, we also need to realize that everything in our world and culture, even many “good” things, things that aren’t obviously evil, are not how God wants us to live.
We have to get God’s view on every challenge, every part of life and the foundational way to get that is from God’s Word.
In other words, simply read your Bible.
That seems so simple, so obvious.
But according to a study commissioned by the American Bible Society, http://www.religionnews.com/2013/04/04/poll-americans-love-the-bible-but-dont-read-it-much/ (apologies to those of you who are reading this outside America, though I imagine statistics may not be better):
- 88% of American households have a Bible, in fact each household has an average of 4.4 Bibles
- Yet 57% only read their Bibles four times a year or less.
- 26% read their Bible on a regular basis (four or more times a week).
- People 18-28 57 percent) of those ages 18-28 read their Bibles less than three times a year, if at all.
No wonder we live in a world filled with sadness and shame.
There is hope
In the midst of additional statistics that showed most Americans (77%) think morality is declining and the everyday reality of growing fear and confusion in our world, the same study contained an encouraging statistic: 60% would like to read it more.
Many people sense the Bible might have answers, but it’s a big book and it isn’t easy to understand.
Let’s be honest, with the exceptions of Psalms, the stories about Jesus, and some Old Testament favorite stories like David defeating Goliath, the rules, the culture, and the story lines themselves are often confusing. When you throw in ancient laws, customs, and the reality that the Bible as we have it isn’t in chronological order and some of the books that are in the middle go along with events in the first few chapters and that the prophets are totally separated from the historical timelines, people and events they spoke to, it’s easy to understand why it’s a hard book to tackle.
There is help
The primary purpose of this website is to help you read and understand the Bible. Though there is other content on the site related to various topics and comments on the Bible, my primary goal is to encourage and help you to read the Bible and by doing that to grow in your relationship to Jesus, whether it is coming to know him as Savior or growing as his disciple.
From my experience the best way to do that is to read through the Bible in chronological order. (for more articles on why this is important, CLICK HERE).
To help you do that the site provides:
- A downloadable reading schedule
- Introductions to the various sections
- Additional comments, resources, and applications to go along with your reading
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