In January 2025, we had a series of encouraging sermons brought to us by our own BC in-house speakers. Our Deacon Alvin Fu aptly spoke on the good habits that we could pursue in the year 2025. He also mentioned to us the need to Worship seriously, Serve passionately, Meet and Encourage one another regularly.
It is not uncommon for many of us to make annual resolutions to do something special, something useful and also something meaningful. As for myself, I have made a resolution this year to make Bible Reading my top priority. Specifically, it is my desire to complete certain NT and OT books of the Bible.
God has given us all the same 24 hours in a day. Hence to prioritise our time to complete many daily tasks, we need to face Satan squarely. He is our greatest enemy. Satan will always be our opposition, causing distraction while trying to blind and mislead us. The other obstacle is that we will not be able to fully comprehend God’s Word – Deut 29:29 – “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do well the words of this law”. Similarly, in 2 Peter 3:16 “… there are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist up to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.”
Despite the many obstacles we may face during our Bible Reading, we should never be discouraged but pray for illumination instead. Diving deeper into reading God’s Word will help us to understand better. Putting aside things that we cannot understand and tackling them on another day may help. This has been my personal experience over the years. I realised that a passage that I had difficulty in understanding some years back, would make sense many years later after a few rounds of reading and rereading!
I have always reminded myself that in Bible Reading, the benefits outweigh the obstacles. And I would also encourage each and every one of you to find and carve for yourselves a good habit for 2025. The benefits of Bible Reading (BR) are many folds:
- BR helps to keep our faith deepened. Romans 10:17 – “So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ”.
- BR promises great joy! John 15:11 – “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full”.
- BR enables and prepares us to meet God! In 1 Samuel 3:21 – “… for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD”.
Andrew Lim
