Reading the Bible

        The world is filled with all kinds of books.  Obviously, books are meant for reading.  Some books however are what we would call reference books.  There are only a few people who read dictionaries from cover to cover.  I say, "only a few" but actually I know of no one who has been an ardent reader of a dictionary.  Fiction books are meant to be read from cover to cover as they usually tell a story.  Other books that are meant to be read from cover to cover are stories that relate a true event.  Of all of the books that have been written, there is only one book that gives life and that is the Bible.  Yes, other books are important yet they will not matter when your dying breath comes.  It is only the Bible that is meant to give life.  Revelation 1:3 says, "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand."  
     This verse of Scripture contains a special blessing just for the reading of the Book of Revelation yet the principle can be applied also to all of the Scriptures.  A person will receive a special blessing when they have read the Bible.  It is interesting to note that when you purchase the Bible on cassette tape, you can actually tell just how long it would take you to read the entire Bible.  In the King James Version, the cassettes add up to less than 90 hours.  We often start out on January 1 with the intent of reading through the Bible in a year.  We have our various Bible reading programs that will help us read approximately 5 chapters a day, or three chapters a day, or a portion from the Old Testament and The New Testament.  You may have such a plan.  The summer months seem to be critical months for the failing of many Bible reading programs.  Different people have different types of goals when it comes to Bible reading.  I knew of a man who was a bit unusualy, but who would read through the Bible ten times a year and every time would be in a different language.  He would read straight through the Bible and would not take food until he was finished.  One would say that perhaps that man had a higher regard for the Bible than many others.  I don't know how effective this would be, but I have often felt that it should be required that a person read the Bible before they read any other book.  After all, the Bible is the main guide book, the book of truth, the Lamp unto our feet and the Light unto our path and the very words of God.  So, therefore, doesn't it just seem logical that it is more important?  Praise God for sending His Word.  Now, just take some time to read it.