I Wish Christians Still Read the Bible

"I wish Christians still read the bible." 

I read this the other day and it hit me really close to home. Think about it for a second. The premise of Christianity is the bible, the Word of God, and yet this precious book somehow gets pushed to the very back of the shelf. Soon it becomes hidden behind Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter, or vast amounts of Clifford the Big Red Dog stories, or worse, it gathers dust in plain sight. Just recently, while I was cleaning off my bookshelf I picked up my bible and saw that there was indeed a layer of dust on top. Needless to say this realization was met with mixed emotions. I felt incredibly guilty and I rapidly wiped it clean, hugging it to my chest. Then I discovered that it was merely dust from the construction going on in my house as of that morning and, after being relieved, I kind of felt like an idiot. But that's not my point.

My point is, why should I feel guilty that my bible is dusty when I purposely just let it sit there, unread? Why do I complain that I'm bad at evangelism when the exact words to say are collecting germs on my shelf? Why do I wish I had more to read when there are 66 books I haven't hardly but skimmed through lying all over my house? Why can I quote Poe, Hemingway, Tennyson, movies galore, and countless inspirational sayings, yet I draw a blank when someone asks what my favorite scripture is?  

I mean, I read all the biblical books. I've gone through countless chapters on dating by Josh Harris, spent time thinking deeply about words by John Piper, and my first book study was on Trusting God by Jerry Bridges (also has anyone else noticed a trend in "J's" here?). But here's how I see it: If you want to learn about Shakespeare, do you just go for the cliff notes? The real poetry, the true beauty of Shakespeare's work, is in the original text. To genuinely love it and understand it, one must first love the original and then go read the cliff notes, autobiographies, articles and books on everything about Shakespeare and his works. It's even more so with the bible. 

There are so many secrets-delicious mysteries-hidden in the Word. Too often I forget that and choose to occupy my mind elsewhere instead of reading such a treasure. But God calls us to meditate on Him day and night! (Psalm 1:2) So don't be a surface Christian. Don't cheat and read the cliff notes. Because when the assignment is due, those who read the real thing are the ones who will be prepared. 

It's time to take action. It's time to be a Christian that reads the bible.