Meeting with God

Many times I have sat across the table from another Christian guy and asked them, “Why do you think it’s important to read the Bible?”

Generally, the answers flow out easily. “It takes the focus of myself and puts it on God.” “I feel closer to God when I read the Bible.” “It reminds me that there is more to life than just my day-to-day.”

For a moment I play devil’s advocate, “I have the picture of Jesus that I keep in my wallet. When I look at it, it makes me feel close to God. It reminds to that my life is bigger than myself. Sometimes, it calms my fears as I remember the love of Jesus and reality of eternity. If I’m able to experience all of that, why would I need to read the Bible?”

I follow up with the question, “If the Bible is so important, would you be able to show me something from the Bible that tells me why it’s important and why I should read it?”

Typically, the next 10-15 seconds is filled with silence and flipping pages. I’ve had guys, find John 3:16 and say, “Nah, this isn’t it.” Finally, they tap out, “You’ve got me.”

I have one more question, “Would you like to know why reading the Bible is important?”

Turning to 2 Timothy 3:16–17, we read

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

This one sentence teaches us 3 great realities about Scripture. First, the nature of Scripture is it’s God-breathed. People speak about the Bible being inspired, but the picture here is about Scripture being expired by God. Scripture finds its very origin in God—breathed by him. This aspect of Scripture impacts me in 3 ways.

(1) I can know that certain things are true about the Bible because it is breathed out by God. For example, the Scriptures are true (Ps 119.160); God does not lie (Num 23.19). His word is eternal (Ps 119.89). They are worth my trust (Ps 19.4).

(2) I can come close to God through the Scriptures. If they are truly breathed by him, then when I read the Bible I am having a close encounter with God himself. I am not just doing a religious chore or hearing about what someone else thinks about God; I am coming to meet with the King of the Universe in a way that I am close enough to feel his breath.

(3) The way the Bible works, it often recalls images developed earlier in its own developing story. The image of God breathing is a rather significant one finding itself in the account of Creation, “the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being (Gen 2.7).” The breath of God transforms a heap of dirt into a living being. In the breath of God is life. The breath of God brings life to nothings. I’m impacted when I consider the coldness, the hardness, the seemingly deadness of my heart toward God. Sometimes, I don’t feel I’m bringing anything to him when I come to read the Bible. But, that’s no problem. It’s not what I bring to the Scripture, but the life the Scripture brings to me.


In Scripture we are coming face to face with God. We experience him and learn about him.

The second thing that 2 Timothy 3:16-17 teaches us is the function of Scripture. We see what Scripture does. The Scriptures are useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training us in righteousness. I’ve worked with a number of college athletes over the years. Their coaches model this process quite well.

• Here’s what I want you to do (teaching).
• No, don’t do that (rebuking)
• Do it like this (correcting)
• Let’s build in some good conditioning and posture to hopefully make it easier to keep doing (training)

Scriptures benefit us as they move us toward being the right kind of person, the person that God created us to me, one who loves God and loves others. Scripture is changing us and challenging the way we think, act and feel. Scripture will change our lives.

The third thing in this passage is the purpose of Scripture. We see that as we learn of God and he brings change to our life that he does this in order that we would be fully equipped for every good work. God wants to use your life. He has a great purpose for you (Eph 2.9-10), and he uses the Scripture to fully equip his people for the adventure to which he has called you.

Seeing these three features of Scripture gives shape to my reading of the Bible. In Scripture I am meeting God, he is changing my life and equipping me his work. When I read the Bible I ask myself three questions.

(1) What am I learning about God in this passage?

(2) What am I learning about myself in this passage?

(3) What is one response I sense God leading me to make in light of this passage?

What motivates you to read the Scriptures? What difference is it making in your life?