Today’s believers, especially in the United States, have an incredible amount of resources from which to choose, says Dr. Jeremiah Johnston. “Bibles and Bible-related materials is a $2.5 billion business in the United States, and yet Christians are increasingly illiterate when it comes to the Bible,” he says. “We have to stop giving lip-service and get in the pages.”
For Johnston, a new appreciation for Scripture came when he studied the early manuscripts while he was a student at the University of Oxford. “When we think about the Bible we have today, it’s an absolute miracle that we even have it,” he says. “The Bible is the best-seller of all time, and yet most Christians don’t know enough about it. If we really believe it’s God’s Word, shouldn’t we pay it a little more respect by getting to know the stories and the amazing adventure of how the Bible came to be?”
Making daily Bible reading a set habit can serve as a guardrail for one’s life, Johnston says, guiding a Christian into obedience, conviction and God’s will. “Have you noticed how confused you can become when you get away from God’s will for your life?” he asks. “It’s amazing how the fog of life lifts when you’re committed to the lamp of God’s truth.”
The Bible is good for a person’s whole being, as said in Jeremiah 15:16: “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight…”
As well as reading the Bible, Christians should understand that their lives are also a representation of the Gospel, Johnston says. He encourages the faithful to write out their testimonies and share a transformed life with those around them.
