We Christians read the Bible, but are we reading to gain knowledge or to receive life? What is our aim when we open the Scriptures?

In the garden of Eden there were two trees: one that gave life and one that led to death. Because our first parents did not eat from the tree of life, humanity came to live in death—knowing good and evil, yet separated from God, who is life. Knowledge alone is not the goal; life is.

Everything we know of God is because He has revealed Himself to us. We do not discover Him through human effort or methods of knowledge. He makes Himself known through creation, through the written Word, and through Jesus Christ—the Word made flesh.

Jesus said, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63), and “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Life is found in Him alone.

As we read the Bible, let us read as those who eat and drink—receiving nourishment. Take time to chew on God’s Word, to ponder it, and to listen. Faith comes by hearing, not by striving to figure everything out.

Be still.
Eat and drink the Scriptures with expectancy, and let the Spirit speak life to your heart through the words of the Bible