Let's be clear from the beginning. Reading the Bible doesn't make you a Christian. Just like watching a James Bond movie doesn't make you a secret agent. But, if you want to grow in your relationship with God, then reading the Bible is absolutely essential. And reading it every day has loads of benefits.
1. It will help you know God better
Being a Christian is about being friends with Jesus. Its a real relationship just like the one you have with your best friend. Now in all relationships we talk and we listen to each other. And this is what reading the Bible and praying is all about.
When we read the Bible, we are listening to what God has to say to us (except it is written down like in a letter). In the Bible, God has made sure he has told us everything we need to know in order to be the best of friends with him. So when you pray and read, you are really having a good old conversation with God and that is definitely something worth doing every day!
2. It will help you grow in relationship with other Christians
Finding a friend you can talk to about God's word can be a great encouragement. If you're both reading every day, you can push each other to continue when the other person is feeling less enthusiastic. If you go to a church, you might be able to find an older wise Christian person to read with. They may even be able to meet with you to read and pray. Or maybe you can meet with a friend at school.
As you sit together and chat about what you have read during the week, it provides a great opportunity to reflect and pray for each other as you strive to live for Jesus.
3. It will change your life
When the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, he shared with him the power of the Bible to change hearts. He said …
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
You see, if we want to live more in line with who God wants us to be, we need to be regularly in His word. As Paul said to Timothy, through God's word we will be taught, rebuked, corrected and trained in righteousness. And why? So that we will be ready to go out and do good work for Jesus. And as we do that, God can use us to change other's lives too.
Get started today
If you want some help with reading the Bible every day, there are some great resources available in Dave Mier's Ultimate list of Bible reading plans, or if you want to get started right now, check out 3 ways to kickstart your Bible reading.
One final thing: routine is your friend! Maybe you can read and pray every time you wake up, or go to bed, or on the way to school, or lunchtime in the library. If you do it every day for a while, the habit will form. Your motivation may go up and down, but keep the habit going because it's worth the effort.