Do you value training in godliness? "Oh yes, Miss Pam! It is top on my
list to learn how to be godly, and also my daily prayer that I would be
so!" Well let me ask you this then, what does your use of time show about
how much you value training for godliness? Just what specific actions
do you schedule into your daily routine to nurture your longing for godliness?
Are you doing any READING of the Word of God? "You don't understand Miss
Pam, I've just never been a reader; actually I really don't like reading
at all." Is that so? I wonder how you think you'll feel when you stand
before the Lord one day and give Him that flimsy excuse for not spending
time in His Word… I agree entirely with what John Wesley said about reading
the Bible - "It can not be that the people should grow in grace unless
they give themselves to reading. A reading people will always be a knowing
people." Ladies, you may not love reading, but if you love the Lord you'll
read His Word! Perhaps reading is not your problem, but rather your heart...
Matthew 15:8
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with
their lips; but their heart is far from me.
The further we are from the Lord, the more vain our worship becomes. If
it is true that training in godliness is important to you, then I assume
you are in a church where you expect to receive much of the Word of God.
You have picked a church where the Bible is the main focus rather than
the social activities, right? Along those same lines, what godly qualities
do you look for in a pastor? Do you expect that he should personally read
the scriptures every day? How would you feel if your pastor spent as much
time in the Word of God as you did every week?? How would you feel about
listening to his sermons on Wednesdays and Sundays and getting your training
in godliness from your shepherd then?? Why is it you think that HE should
spend any more time in the Word of God than you?? The Lord expects all
of His children to be devoted to training themselves in godliness through
the reading of His Word. The great purpose of life is the shaping of character
by truth. That truth is found only in the Holy Scriptures! If you don't
read the Bible, how much godly shaping is your character going to get?
Moreover, how much training in righteousness will you be able to offer
others? While preparing Timothy for life as a Christian, Paul emphasized
thorough study of the Bible…
1 Tim. 4:13
Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
You see, ladies, you do not attain godly character and conduct by just
wanting it and praying for it, or brushing up against godly people, there
is work to be done on our part! Scripture teaches that we are to give
attendance to reading the Bible - and not just at church - at home too!
Many teachers and preachers of the Bible are not well read; they struggle
reading scripture fluently in public assemblies. They are indifferent
to pronouncing written words in the proper order. Rather than master tricky
Bible words or names, they massacre them and make light of their failure
to read well. Holy men and women should be able to read God's Word with
ease! Naturally, if a person increased their private Bible reading, it
stands to reason that their public reading would improve as well. I highly
doubt Jesus Christ was flippant when it came to verbally presenting His
Father's Word to the general public. I believe our Savior would have pronounced
every syllable of every word with respect for accuracy. By the way, how
much attention are you giving to READING, dear lady? Are you qualified
to read and expound the scriptures without difficulty? Do you endeavor
to pronounce God's Word correctly where you are uncertain? Can you confidently
teach others what to do and what to believe with your current understanding
of the Bible? Whether you enjoy reading or not, God expects His children
to be good examples as readers! Not only that, we who are parents should
also train our children in these matters as well...
Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will
not depart from it.
The way our children SHOULD go is found on the pages of the Bible, not
in some child psychology book!!!!! This is the WAY in which God would
have parents to train their children!! There is power in the Word, so
much so that it reaches children all the way into their future and keeps
them on the right path even then! What father or mother would not want
to put strong emphasis on something so essential and far-reaching as Bible
reading in their children's lives?? Truth found in the Bible will keep
your children on the right path even when you are dead and gone! So then,
how much of a love are you really building in your children TODAY for
reading the Word of God while you still have them under your influence?
Are they learning by your example to give conscientious attendance to
the truth of the scriptures every day? Or are you replacing that time
for truth with empty activity and teaching them to do the same? What favorite
book is resting on your bedstand - a love novel, a diet book, a clothing
catalog, the T.V. guide, or the Bible?? Yes, reading is crucial, and I
hope that whether you are a home schooling mother or not, you are diligently
training your children to be excellent readers and readers of excellent
things! Build into their lives a love for reading the Word of God…
Deut. 17:19
And it shall be with him, and he shall READ therein all the days of his
life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words
of this law and these statutes, to do them:
Ladies, reading shouldn't be considered a boring obligation we endure,
it's a privilege we have as God's children to be able to read and understand
our heavenly Father's love letter with the help and guidance of the Holy
Spirit! As a basic spiritual discipline, it's necessary to read God's
Word in order to obey it. We can't know what God wants except through
His Word, and His Word won't affect our life unless we read and think
about it regularly! It's also a privilege we have as Americans to even
have the Word of God in our possession, when in other countries it is
not as accessible - even disallowed! Accompanying their attachment to
truth, I hope you will also build into your children a love for reading
wholesome books as well. Books like Harry Potter, Goosebumps, comic books,
and all other mainstream publications etc. do not fall into that category!
There is great influence in reading, so pick your other books wisely and
prayerfully… Countless books for young people these days are filled with
shallow vocabulary, wicked imaginations, and absolutely zero character
training or moral values whatsoever! I'll be honest with you, if I were
the writer of some of the current books in print I'd be ashamed to have
my name listed as the author of such mindless garbage! Just take a stroll
past the children's section in any bookstore; take in the whole picture
and get a load of what many children are being fed, and parents are foolishly
purchasing for them!! Many of the covers are appalling at best, and I've
even seen some that even stoop so low as to use bodily excretions in their
titles just to appear to be "cool" and attract a buyer! With a steady
diet of such ungodly nonsense making it's way into their young hearts
and minds, how many of these children do you predict are going to grow
up with an appetite for the Word of God?? Please give serious thought
to the influence of what your children are reading!! Input equals output!!
Philip. 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things
are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Sir John Herschel said of the influence of reading: "If I were to pray
for a taste that would stand me in stead under every variety of circumstances
and be a source of happiness and cheerfulness to me through life, and
a shield against its ills, however things might go amiss and the world
frown upon me, it would be a taste for reading. Give a man this taste
and the means of gratifying it, and you can hardly fail of making him
a happy man, unless indeed you but into his hands a most perverse selection
of books! You place him in contact with the best society in every period
of history, with the wisest, with the tenderest, the bravest and the purest
characters that have adorned humanity. It is hardly possible but the character
should take a much higher and a much better tone from the constant habit
of associating in thought with a class of thinkers, to say the least of
it, above the average of humanity. It is morally impossible but that the
manners should take a tinge of good breeding and civilization from having
constantly before one's eyes the way in which the best informed and the
best bred men have conducted themselves in their association with each
other. There is a gentle but perfectly irresistible coercion in the habit
of reading which directs the whole tenor of a man's character and conduct."
Now ladies, common sense tells us that if good books hold such power over
the character and conduct of our lives, how much more power and influence
do you think the Word of God could have upon us if we would but give attendance
to the reading of it?! God help us to be as Christ was - reverent readers
of the HOLY Bible...
Luke 4:16
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom
was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to
read.
Neh. 9:3
And they stood up in their place, and READ in the book of the law of the
Lord their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they
confessed, and worshipped the Lord their God.
By steady Bible reading, we will gain not only wisdom and training in
godliness, but also conviction of our sins will take place, bringing about
confession and clearing of transgression from our hearts, resulting in
true worship of the Lord! After these people mentioned above read the
book of the law, they could go no further until they confessed their sins.
Perhaps that is why we don't give much attendance to reading the Bible,
because we don't want to become a knowing people as John Wesley said we
would! We don't want to know where we are doing wrong, for we aren't the
slightest bit interested in turning from our wicked ways… In fact, most
believers nowadays pick the church they will attend according to the main
message that is given overall. Few rarely want to hear the truth about
their sin, and their need to turn from it. They prefer a "love" message
every week, something that leaves them with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.
And believe me, when a church is known for preaching the truth about sin,
it is the last place people want to visit! Unless of course, they are
serious about being trained in true godliness. The Bible says we are to
read ALL the Words of the Bible - the blessings and the cursings. We need
to hear how much God loves us, but we also need to hear the consequences
of our sin no matter how old we are. It is foolish to skip over and avoid
the portion of God's Word that convicts our hearts! It's ALL of it for
ALL of us, not some of it for some of us, amen? Not one word of truth
should be left out (or taken out as the newer versions do!), nor one person
kept from hearing it…
Joshua 8:34-35
And afterward he READ ALL THE WORDS OF THE LAW, the blessings and cursings,
according to ALL that is written in the book of the law. There was not
a word of ALL that Moses commanded, which Joshua READ not before ALL the
congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers
that were conversant among them.
1 Thes. 5:27
I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be READ UNTO ALL the holy brethren.
Today ladies, you ARE one of the holy brethren if you are saved, and you
need to read the Word of God - ALL of it! Be diligent to give your full
attention to the scriptures, won't you? There is a lot we don't know due
to a lack of reading. As I close, listed among the verses below is a basic
question Christ will one day ask of each of us… What will your answer
be?
Matthew 12:3
But he said unto them, HAVE YE NOT READ what David did, when he was an
hungred, and they that were with him…
Matthew 12:5
Or HAVE YE NOT READ in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests
in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
Matthew 19:4
And he answered and said unto them, HAVE YE NOT READ, that he which made
them at the beginning made them male and female…
Matthew 21:16
And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them,
Yea; HAVE YE NEVER READ, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou
hast perfected praise?
Matthew 21:42
Jesus saith unto them, DID YE NEVER READ in the scriptures, The stone
which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner:
this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
Matthew 22:31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, HAVE YE NOT
READ that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham,
and the God of Isaac, and the god of Jacob? God is not the God of the
dead, but of the living.
Mark 2:25
And he said unto them, HAVE YE NEVER READ what David did, when he had
need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?
Mark 12:10
And HAVE YE NOT READ this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected
is become the head of the corner:
Mark 12:26
And as touching the dead, that they rise: HAVE YE NOT READ in the book
of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of
Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?
Luke 6:3
And Jesus answering them said, HAVE YE NOT READ so much as this, what
David did, when himself was an hungred, and they which were with him;
Isaiah 34:16
Seek YE out of the book of the Lord, and READ: no one of these shall fail....
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000 Pamela A. Iannello
Revised 2003
