Matthew 4:4
4 But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by
every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
The word of God, the Bible, is special. And it's vital to spiritual living. No Christian can do without regular "feasting" upon Scripture. Any Christian who persistently neglects God's word demonstrates in doing so that they are far from God, spiritually malnourished, and easy prey for the devil. The born-again believer who is walking well with God finds a natural and intense delight in His word to them. 4 But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by
every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Jeremiah 15:16
16 Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.
Psalm 19:7-10
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.
10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
Is this how you feel about the Bible? Is it the joy and delight of your heart? Is Scripture sweeter than honey to you, more desirable than much gold? If not, there is something badly awry between you and the Author of Scripture.
When you love the divine Author of the Bible with all of your being, as He has commanded you to do (Matthew 22:36-38), when you're living in constant, conscious, daily submission to Him and the life of the Spirit is filling you up more and more as a result (Romans 6:13-22; Romans 12:1; James 4:7-10; Galatians 5:22-23; 2 Corinthians 3:18), the "Law of the Lord," His precepts, commandments and judgments, bring wisdom, enlightenment and joy. They reveal God to you; they explain his mind, character and will to you; they show you how best to live; they expose the sinful hindrances to fellowship with God that lie within you. All these things serve to bring God into focus, to stabilize, and direct, and clarify your fellowship with the One you love with all of your soul, mind and strength.
If, however, you're like a pastor I once heard confess to not having studied the Bible for months; if you give only cursory attendance to Scripture, reading it only briefly and soon forgetting what you read; if the "milk" of the word holds little interest for you, understand that this is a clear indication that your "walk" with God is in serious trouble.
Psalm 119:9-11
9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.
10 With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments.
11 Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.
If it is by keeping God's word (which requires first knowing it), if it is by treasuring the word of God in one's heart that one avoids sin, what will be the case for one who is careless and neglectful of God's word?
Psalm 119:104-105
104 From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
If it is from God's precepts, given in His word, that one recognizes the "false way," if God's word is a "lamp and light" to one's "path" through life, what must be the result of giving short shrift to study of God's word?
1 Peter 2:1-2
1 Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,
2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,
If it is by feeding on the "milk" of God's word that one grows spiritually, what will the consequence be if one doesn't feed on it?
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
If what Paul wrote to Timothy is true, if the Bible is "profitable" for all of the things he listed - teaching, reproof, correction, righteousness - and one knows and cares little for Scripture, how will one be "complete" spiritually and "equipped for every good work"?
Horribly, there are, at least in my experience, many, many people claiming to be followers of Jesus Christ, born-again Christians, whose knowledge and understanding of God's word is almost nil. Or, they have an enormously expansive but very superficial knowledge of Scripture; they are like the mile-wide puddle that's only an inch deep. They can tell you arcane facts about the OT Hittites, or will share some odd tidbit concerning ancient Jewish shepherding practices, or point out that the Bible was not written originally in the verse-chapter format we are so used to today; they will assure you that, via hundreds of Bible studies, and seminars, and conferences, they know the truth of God's word very well. But when you ask them to explain what it is to walk in the Spirit, or what the crucified life is, or to recite twenty Bible verses from memory, or without reference to Strong's Concordance, give you chapter and verse on, say, the deity of Christ, there is nothing but slogans, catch-phrases and profound uncertainty.
As a consequence, the Church, at least in the West, is filled with biblically-ignorant and thus spiritually-juvenile believers whose collective effect upon the Church is to make it desperately weak, corrupt and dark. But this effect upon the Church merely echoes what is true of their lives individually; the "leaven" they bring into the Church is well-established in their own daily living.
What can be done? Well, the answer isn't for Bible-neglecting Christians to just make themselves better students of God's word. God has made us to flee pain and pursue pleasure; we are most powerfully moved by desire, either to escape hurt, or for gratification of some sort. In short, we either do what we love to do, or we do what we have to do. For example, I love my wife and so, I pursue life with her, day-by-day building my relationship with her in a variety of ways. I also visit the dentist occasionally. Unlike my wife, I don't much care for my dentist. But I see him, nonetheless, my desire to avoid the pain of bad dental health compelling me to do so. In one degree or another, in one way or another, my life is ordered by either negative or positive desire.
Continued below.