Do you read the Bible just to say you did it, or do you read realizing the power to change lives found in it?

Romans 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

The Power of the Word

There is real power in the blood of the Lamb of God to take away sins, but there’s also power in the Word of God to change lives and bring salvation to lost sinners. I have no power to save anyone, not even myself, but there is true power, the very power of God, in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:16). Jesus told the disciples to go into all the world to preach the Gospel. But He also told them that they would receive power–the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). The Spirit of God will teach us not only what to say (Matt. 10:19) but when to say it (Luke 12:12), and God the Father can speak through us (Matt. 10:20). Talk about power! I want that.

The Guarantee of God’s Word

God promises that His Word will do what He sets it out to do and will accomplish what He purposes it to do (Isaiah 55:11). When God says His Word won’t return void, this means that His Word will definitely affect those who hear it, and it will effect in the hearts of those who do. In other words, the effect of the Word affects the person’s heart. I told one young man who went with me once to share the Gospel that it takes a man of God, with the Word of God, having the Spirit of God, to make the children of God, for the glory of God. Of course, the same thing applies to a woman of God. The emphasis here is on God! God, God, God! It’s all about God and His Word and not about us. He takes feeble, frail men and women with feet of clay to help point people to their need for the Savior, and then God’s Spirit takes over, convicting them of their sins and allowing them to see their need to repent and trust in the Savior.

Faith From the Word

If you read your Bible, then you’re hearing the Word of God in your mind. We know from Scripture that faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Rom. 10:17), and the more you read and hear the Word of God, I believe the stronger your faith will become. Do you read your Bible just to check it off on your list of things to do, or do you understand that reading the Word has the power to change lives? It has the power to change your life and the lives of those who don’t yet know Jesus Christ. Use it, unleash it, and see God work!

A Closing Prayer

Father, I know I have read my Bible just so that I can tell others that I read my Bible every day. Please forgive me for such pride. I need to realize the very power of God that abides in Your Word and to know that it doesn’t only change me but those who hear it, and I thank You for Your precious Word. I pray in the name of the Word of God, and that Word is Christ (John 1:1, 14).

Amen