Let’s start a daily habit for life-long Bible reading.
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Welcome to Scripture for Students. I’m Steve Whitacre, president of Trinity College and a pastor at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville.
I love what I do because almost every day I get to teach adults at our church or students at Trinity College and students in middle school and high school how to read and love God’s Word.
This is a challenge for many students. I talk to students all the time who genuinely love the Lord. They love their churches and they want to follow Christ. Many of these students have something in common: they know they should read their Bibles every day and they have tried to do it, but it is hard to keep up a habit because they don’t feel like they get much out of it. It becomes a duty and then sinks into drudgery.
Maybe it is like that for you. Sometimes—maybe just every so often—a verse from Psalms seems to speak to how you feel and suddenly the words seem to launch off the page and you feel the change in your heart. Other days, the words seem totally flat and feel to you as irrelevant as a weather forecast for a city you don’t live in.
Sometimes it is just hard to figure out how a story is relevant. So what that Saul’s grandson, Mephibosheth, had crippled feet? What does it mean that a word fitly spoken like apples of gold in a setting of silver? Why are there four living creatures around the throne of God, and why do they have the faces of an ox, a lion, a man, and an eagle?
The Bible can feel more like a code than a comfort, and we’re not sure how to crack it. Reading it each day can feel like a chore rather than bringing you closer to Christ. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
The Bible was not written just to pastors or parents or super spiritual people. It was written to every Christian for every day. No matter how old you are or how long you’ve been walking with the Lord, this book is for you.
And have you ever noticed that it frequently addresses young people directly? While it’s true that it contains mysteries we will spend the rest of our lives seeking out, even the youngest Christian can expect God to keep his promises by shining light into our minds and our hearts every time we read God’s Word.
This book is full of metaphor and majesty. It tells one great story of suffering and sin and tragedy and triumph and hope and joy. It is full of little details and great characters, scary scenes and tragic tales and violent victories. There are slaves who deliver babies in defiance of the emperor and kings who dance in the streets unashamed.
Through his living and active Word, God confronts our sin and rebellion like Nathan did to David. He flattens us with the majesty and the holiness of God like he did to Isaiah in the year that King Uzziah died. Through prophets from Jonah to Jeremiah, he warns us to flee the terrible wrath of God. Through true tales of four storytellers, he unfolds the astonishing birth, the miraculous life, and the violent death of his perfect Son.
In our place. By his power. Through his plan. For his praise. The apostles and their epistles packs us full of teaching and send us on our gospel mission. He forgives us and cleanses us and heals our wounds. He leads us in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. His Word is a lamp and a sword, as sweet as honey and as hot as flame. All this in the first fifteen minutes of your day.
I had a student tell me recently that she had already read her Bible at least five times and she thought she knew what it had to offer. But now, through her biblical theology class at Trinity College, she is learning how to read her Bible differently. Now she wakes up excited to read it every day. That’s the experience I want for each of you. I think that reading the Bible is the best time of the day, and that’s why I’m starting Scripture for Students: so that together, we can awaken a fresh love for God’s word by discovering the many ways that God’s word points to God’s Son.
So we’re going to begin with a special Advent edition of Scripture for Students: during the month of December, we’re going to read together from different passages of God’s word that help us see the point of the Christmas story. I hope you’ll join us. If you’re excited about this, please share it with a friend and follow us on Apple Podcasts.
This content is sponsored by Trinity College of Louisville. We shape young men and young women for Christ and for the church. Learn more at TrinityCollegeLou.com. Until next time, keep growing!