“Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.” Psalm 119:111, ESV
“I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil.” Psalm 119:162, ESV
Amidst this Holy Week, I think of Christ, the living Word, and am convinced that no spiritual habit is more important than reading scripture devotionally. The Word of God is the central gateway of grace, a habit upon which all revelation of Christ hinges. Scripture is endlessly rich and should become a focal point of your daily life. I remember a time early in my Christian life when setting aside time to read the Bible seemed like a chore, but all that changed when I fell in love with the Word of God.
You can fall in love with the Word of God too. It can become more enthralling than the best novel, more nourishing than the most sumptuous feast, more uplifting than the greatest earthly accolade. God’s Word is sweeter than honey, richer than all the world’s treasures, and more satisfying than any earthly delight—and it is yours, available every day.
The Bible is God’s Word to us—the only infallible rule of faith and practice. It was written across centuries, by many authors, and yet holds together with astonishing unity, because one Writer inspired it all.
The Bible has been banned, burned, and opposed, yet it endures. It is so powerful that entire nations have tried to suppress it. It is so authoritative that even the devil has tried to twist it. It is too deep for the most learned scholar to fully exhaust, and yet so simple that a child can grasp its essence. It is the best-selling book of all time.
But those are not the primary reasons I love the Bible.
I love this Book because it is Good News on every page.
When I look at the world—with its wars and rumors of wars, with the darkness of sin that settles like a pall over the earth—my soul longs for good news.
Doesn’t yours?
When life feels uncertain and headlines breed despair, my heart stretches toward the Gospel, the euangelion—literally “a message of good news”.
I don’t love the Bible mainly for its instruction, though it is chock-full of wisdom. Not chiefly for its principles, though they are life-giving. I love the Bible because it tells an epic story—a story of a world in distress, a Hero of unimaginable glory, and a rescue so astonishing it creates an entirely new people.
The Bible isn’t good news because every page is happy or filled with uplifting sayings. It is Good News because every page is part of a story that ends gloriously triumphant.
So as I encourage you to build a daily rhythm of Scripture reading, I have no need to pressure you with “oughts” any more than a gourmet chef needs to shame hungry diners to eat.
If space allowed, I’d offer you much needed practical counsel for reading the Bible devotionally—how to understand context, how to study a passage, how to connect to a story, and maybe a Bible memorization plan. Instead, in the limited pages ahead, I’d like to become like a matchmaker, someone privileged to introduce you to the love of your life.
How might you fall in love with the Word of God? The reasons are endless, but let me give you my top three.
For most of my life, I thought of the Bible primarily as an instruction manual.
When Anne and I got married, my generous brothers gave us a gas grill. After our honeymoon, I opened the box and tried to assemble it. It seemed like a thousand pieces. I’m not particularly skilled at that sort of thing, and the whole process put me in a bad mood for days and nearly ended our marriage before it got started.
After a week of pain, I got the grill together and it worked.
Why? Because I followed the instructions, page by page, picture by picture, line by line.
I needed that gas grill assembly manual. Instruction manuals might help you succeed—but no one falls in love with one.
Of course, the Bible contains instruction. There is wisdom for marriage, guidance for holiness, and truth for everyday life.
But notice—the Psalmist didn’t say, “Your Word is helpful like a well-written user guide.” He declared: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103, ESV) No one says that about a gas grill manual.
No one wakes up thinking, I can’t wait to spend time with my instruction booklet today. No one says of their car manual what the Psalmist says of the Word: “Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.” (Psalm 119:111, ESV)
When we reduce Scripture to rules or techniques, we don’t just simplify it—we diminish it. We miss its beauty, its power, its wonder.
Because the Bible is not first a how-to.
It is a once upon a time.
Jesus understood this. He didn’t teach mainly in bullet points—He told stories. Stories that awakened imagination and drew people in. We are made for story.
Anne once gave me a card that said, “You’re my once upon a time and my happily ever after.”
That’s what a great story does—it captures your heart at the beginning and fulfills your deepest longing at the end.
Imagine if someone tried to preach the story of Cinderella as if it were an instruction manual.
Today’s text is from Cinderella, chapter one, verses two through forty-eight. The title of my message is: ‘Tough Times Produce Tough People.’ Write that down.
In our text today, we observe that Cinderella had an especially tough life. In the first place, her beloved mother died, a tough ordeal indeed. Then, to make matters even tougher, Cinderella’s father married a woman who had no affection for her new stepdaughter. Instead, Lady Tremaine abused Cinderella emotionally and forced her into menial labor.
Cinderella’s stepsisters made matters even tougher as they demeaned her daily. Cinderella had quite a tough life, but notice how well she handled it. Here are three principles about staying tough during tough times: Point 1) Cinderella remained positive. She kept a good mental mindset. Remember, attitude determines altitude. Point 2) Though she was alone, Cinderella made friends with the animals. Furry friends are forever friends. If you look hard enough, you can find others to help you through your struggles. Point 3) Cinderella made the most of her time. The clock will strike midnight for you one day—are you ready?
It’s ridiculous.
Why?
Because Cinderella is not a handbook for resilience. It’s a story.
A “once upon a time,” not a “how to.” And it’s not ultimately about Cinderella’s grit—it’s about a Prince who sees her, chooses her, rescues her, and changes her destiny.
That’s grace.
Do you see my point?
To read the Bible as an owner’s manual is just as unhelpful as reading Cinderella as a guide for tough times.
The Bible is an epic love story. A rescue story. A story where the Hero enters our brokenness—not to give better advice, but to save us.
The way to fall in love with Scripture is to see the Hero… and feel the rescue.
As Tim Keller said, “There are two ways to read the Bible. The one way to read the Bible is that it’s basically about you: what you have to do in order to be right with God, in which case you’ll never have a sure and certain hope, because you’ll always know you’re not quite living up… Or you can read it as all about Jesus… what he has done to make you absolutely right with God… and once you understand it’s all about me, Jesus Christ, then you can know that you have peace… and you can face anything.”
So here’s the invitation:
Look for the Hero on every page. Ask, “Where does this text or scene fit in the great story?”
Wonder, “How does this passage show me God’s love?”
2. Stop Seeing Scripture as Condemning and Start Seeing It as Cleansing
Think of a time when you were at your grimiest. Maybe after a long afternoon working in the garden or after a sweaty workout or lying in a flu bed too weak to bathe. If you can envision the delight of a fresh shower that cleans the body, you can begin to understand the even greater delight of a clean heart, washed in the Word.
The scripture has a soul cleansing power:
— Christ “gave himself up… that he might sanctify her… by the washing of water with the word.” (Ephesians 5:25–26, ESV)
— “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17, ESV)
— “Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.” (John 15:3, ESV)
My former associate, Pastor David Beaty, planted our daughter church and led the fledgling core into a large, flourishing congregation. He is one of the purest spirits you’ll ever meet. But by his own testimony, his life was not always drawn to the holy. His college years were wayward. But David said that even on his worst nights, when he had been most foolish, he would come back to his dorm room and read the Bible at least a little.
Why? I think because he felt it—he felt the cleansing power of the Word. He felt more whole, though he couldn’t have explained why.
There is something sanctifying about the timeless beauty and truth of God’s Word. When you read scripture rightly, your soul is mystically washed.
The “water of the Word” carries a cleansing virtue because it is God-breathed—alive with His Spirit. You may not always understand how it works (any more than you understand how an antibiotic heals), but it does.
When Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth,” He revealed that truth has the power to wash away confusion, fear, and heaviness.
I saw this in a dear man in our congregation—a Spirit-filled saint whom I loved deeply.
When our leaders made a difficult decision to renovate a historic space, it troubled him. He lost his joy over it.
But one Sunday, after hearing that young people were coming to Christ in that very space, he approached me with tears in his eyes.
“Are young people really being reached for Christ in that space on Saturday nights?”
“Yes,” I said. “They are.”
He wept, then smiled.
“That’s wonderful… I’m sorry if I’ve complained too much.”
As we walked together, he stopped and said, “I feel so good all of a sudden. Like the weight of the world has lifted.” We embraced and each said, “I love you.”
He was free. He was whole.
Seeing rightly cleanses you.
So as you read Scripture, don’t come first looking for correction—come for cleansing.
Let the truth wash over you.
Jesus told a parable about a sower and explained, “The seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11, ESV).
Likewise, Peter wrote:
“… since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” The Word is living. Active. Eternal. (1 Peter 1:23–25, ESV)
It will change your anticipation and faith if you see that the “word of God is living and active” (Hebrews 4:12, ESV).
It means that every time you read God’s Word it’s like your heart has become soil and every word of the Lord is a seed. The seed finds a place in your heart and, in time, germinates, grows, brings life and produces fruit. It means that on those days when you spend time in the Word and walk away thinking “I didn’t get anything out of it,” you actually did. You received a mysterious piece of eternity. You took in a seed that carries a life of its own.
I think of the odd fable of Jack and the beanstalk. It’s a tale far too scary to actually read to a child (I was terrified of that giant who bellowed “Fi Fo Fo Fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman”). The story tells of a boy who purchases magic seeds, not knowing what they would do until they sprout and grow into a mysterious plant that soars to heavenly heights. Then, by the plant of that seed, the child is transported to another realm where he outwits the evil giant and returns home with self-generating riches.
That’s what God’s Word does. It isn’t magic, but it is supernatural. It’s a “living Word.” It has the very life of God; His own Spirit infuses every word.
Conclusion
Setting aside daily time to read God’s Word is a discipline, a practice that is most fruitful when it becomes a habit. But, when you discover with the Psalmist that scripture is “sweeter than honey,” you’ll need no prodding to spend time in the Word.
My prayer for you is that you’ll become as Ezekiel who was commanded to ingest a text:
“And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey. (Ezekiel 3:1–3, ESV)
The Bible isn’t an instruction manual full of laborious steps to a more effective life. It’s more like a feast of grace that will feed the deepest parts of you. Taste and see how good the Word of the Lord is and you’ll find your soul hungering for the scripture, sometimes like a ravenous person who is nearly starving and sometimes like a prosperous person who relishes a fine feast.
Be inspired.
Be cleansed.
Be empowered by the seed of eternity.
WITH GOD'S WORD
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