Have you ever lost a book or piece of paper in your house? You search and search for it, but just can’t find it so you finally give up.
Then one day you are cleaning a shelf or under furniture, and there it is. However, now that piece of paper is covered in dust. You have to get a damp cloth or rag and wipe it off because it's all dusty. Things become dusty quickly. You clean your home and, within a day or two, it is back to being a mess. You dust a bookshelf, and all it takes is a windy day or a couple of days of neglect and it needs to be dusted again.
When something is forgotten for even just a few days, it gathers dust — a visual reminder that it went untouched for a while. You can't hide a dusty shelf; it becomes more and more obvious the longer it is left because the dust builds up.
How often in our lives, specifically our spiritual lives, do we leave things untouched? We go through life doing good things; we work hard. But we leave some areas sitting idle, attracting dust. We remember God occasionally, dusting off our relationship with Him. But all too often, we wait to spend time with Him until things have become quite dusty and neglected.
We call ourselves Christians, but we let the actual relationship-building areas collect dust. Sometimes it isn’t until a windstorm — when things become so dusty we can’t ignore them anymore — that we dust off our connection with God. All too often, Christians are visibly shallow in their relationship with Jesus, and the world notices the dust building up — even if we try to hide it.
One of the most quickly neglected areas in Christianity is Bible reading.
Recent Statista data from 2021 shows that only 11–30% of Christians read their Bible an average of four or more times a week. More than 30% say they never read the Bible and only 5–7% of Christians have read the whole Bible from start to finish.
Dusty Bibles are a sad reality of this busy, exhausting, temptation-filled world.
Neglecting Bible reading is like leaving food to mold in the cupboards or refrigerator while you are starving, all the while running around the house yelling for food. It's right there but you don’t eat it.
The Bible is God’s love letter throughout history to humanity. It's a chance to get to know the Creator God of the universe; to see His love for and patience with humanity; and to see His plan of redemption, salvation and eternal life through Him.
David wrote often of the need to spend regular time praying, meditating and reading the word of God. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” When we read the Bible, our path is lit so we don’t stumble. We are to fill our lives up with this light.
John 8:12 says, “I am the Light of the world.” Jesus is speaking of Himself here and the way to get to know Him better is through prayer and Bible study.
Another verse that helps remind me of the importance of Bible reading is Joshua 1:8, “Keep this book of the law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
Day and night, we are to meditate, read and learn from the word of God to fill our hearts and minds with the messages of hope, love, redemption and salvation that come through a relationship with God.
So, dust off your Bible. Put it somewhere you can’t avoid it. Set an alarm on your phone to read a little or listen to a little scripture each day. It's through reading the Bible that we gain a better understanding of who God is and can truly live a life that is transformed by His indwelling spirit.
