I grew up knowing about Jesus Christ but until my adult years, I never had an authentic relationship with Him. My knowledge of Him wasn't based on my personal reading of the Bible, it was based on everyone else's interpretation of it. This caused me to have a twisted perception of who God really is. I never could get close to Him like I desired until I began to rip through those false ideas about who He is by learning the truth of what His Word actually says about Him.
There is great danger in taking what someone else says about the Word of God as a substitute for personal revelation. Don't get me wrong, Steven Furtick and Joyce Meyer are phenomenal at proclaiming the Word, but even still, they are only giving you what God has revealed to them. This leaves you missing out on bringing your own unique download to the table because you are settling for what everyone else thinks as if you don't actually have a mind of your own.
Not only does this leave us vulnerable and weak as Christians, but it exposes that weakness to those who aren't interested in lining up their teachings with the actual truth of God's Word. If I have not read what it says for myself, then I'm subject to fall for any lie that someone chooses to present. 2 Timothy chapter 3 discusses this very topic. It talks about those who have become infatuated with themselves and only seek to spread lies because although they will put on a religious mask, they actually deny the power of God all together which is a direct contradiction of who God is in the first place- all powerful.
Further down, we find out that it's those same people who will seek to take advantage of those who are weak in the faith because they have no real understanding for themselves. The Message Bible Version puts it this way, "These are the kind of people who smooth-talk themselves into the homes of unstable and needy women and take advantage of them; women who, depressed by their sinfulness, take up with every new religious fad that calls itself “truth.” They get exploited every time and never really learn." 2 Timothy 3:6-7. No, this issue doesn't just apply to women and there are actually a plethora of scriptures on this very topic, but I will let you research that on your own.
The point I want to stress is this; If we do not read God (the Word is God), then we will not know God. If we do not know Him then we will never understand the redemptive power of what Christ did for us on the cross. Meaning, we will always be bound down by the weight of our sin always looking for relief by something other than the cross, therefore opening the door for every fly-by-night doctrine to come in and knock us off of our feet.
Lastly, in this day and age with all the advances of technology, we honestly have no excuse as to why we can not get into the Word. We have so many options available to us. Think about it, we have audible options for listening to it while doing our daily activities and there are innumerable Bible plans right at our finger tips. So take a stand and do not be tossed around like the sea and get firmly planted on the Word of God and watch how your life changes.
"There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us." 2 Timothy 3:17 MSG
