As we begin a new year, it is a good time to develop some new habits.  So-called new years resolutions don’t typically stick for more than a month or so because we are not dedicated to them.  We lose interest in them because they don’t show an immediate return on our investment.  Another reason that they don’t stick is that we are too aggressive in our goals, and when we fail, we just throw in the towel.  Christians that decide to read their bibles every day often get discouraged for the same reasons.  Many will call themselves Bible believers, but they spend little if any time in the Bible on a daily basis.

Today we are going to look at four things that will happen if you will read your Bible daily.

• Fear of the Lord is learned
• Following and doing his words will occur
• Forsaking of your pride
• Fixes your direction

And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:

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:

That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel. – Deuteronomy 17:18-20

Fear of the Lord is learned

If you will commit to reading your Bible daily, you will learn the fear of the Lord.  You will learn about his judgments and why you should fear them:

I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.

   Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.

   Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.

   Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.

   Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.

   Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood.

   Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.

   My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.- Psalms 119:113-120

In the Bible, we read of two final judgments for mankind.  We read about the judgment that all of the unsaved will appear before, the Great White Throne Judgment.  Everyone that attends this judgment are those that tried to earn their own way to heaven.  Those who thought that all roads lead to heaven and that they could earn heaven by doing good works:

And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. – Revelation 20:11-15

All who participate in the Great White Throne Judgment will be thrown into the lake of fire.  There will be no exceptions.

In contrast, the Judgment Seat of Christ is reserved only for those who have put their faith and trust in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and have been born again.  At this judgment no one will be judged for their sins, since Jesus has already paid that price,  however, their works will be judged in relationship to earning or losing rewards:

But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.- Romans 14:10

  For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

  For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:

  If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

  For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

  Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

  Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

  (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

  We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

  Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

  Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. – 2 Corinthians 5:1-11

According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. – 1 Corinthians 3:10-15

The fear that this judgment brings, is that you will not have any works that survive and you will be standing naked before the Lord.  This fear will help to keep you pure:

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. – 1 John 3:1-3

Follow his words and do them

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: - Deuteronomy 17:19

The next thing that you will learn by reading the Bible daily is that you need to not only hear the words of God, but you need to do them as well.  You can’t follow what you don’t know:

  Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

  Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. – Psalms 119:104-105

Just owning a copy of the word of God isn’t good enough.  Just knowing where to find the word of God is not enough, just knowing that you have your own personal copy of Gods word, is not enough.  The King here is told to make his very own copy of the word of God.  He had to do this because they did not have the Bible in the completed form as we do today.  But notice that it was not enough to just have a copy, he was told to read those words every single day!

And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:

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: - Deuteronomy 17:18-19

We need to read the word of God, and we need to do the things that we are told from the word of God.  The word of God is our final authority in all matters of faith and practice.  Not just in faith, but in faith and practice.  Knowing what the Lord says is important, but we must also apply these words to our everyday life:

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. – James 1:22-25

James reminds us that if we hear the word of God, but don’t do anything about what we hear, would be like looking at yourself in a mirror and seeing something that needs to be corrected; messed hair, milk mustache, food on your face, or whatever; and seeing the deficiency we decide not to do anything about it.  We just leave it the way that is was.  What good is it to look in a mirror, if you are not going to make any adjustments based on what you see?  The same applies to the word of God.  What good is it to know what you should do, but to decide not to do those things.  The Bible calls that sin, to know that you should do good, but deciding not to do it, to you that is sin:

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. – James 4:17

Forsake your pride

That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel. – Deuteronomy 17:20

Reading your bible every day will help you to forsake your pride.  Pride is something that every individual struggles with.  We are told all of our lives that we should have a high self-esteem and that we should promote ourselves every chance that we get.  The Bible tells us that God resists the proud:

But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. – James 4:6

We are to humble ourselves that God may exalt us in due time.  (James 4:10, 1 Peter 5:6).  The Lord Jesus Christ humbled himself:

    If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,

    Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

    Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

    Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

    Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

    Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

    But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

    And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

    Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

    That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

    And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:1-11

Christians, somehow feel that they deserve better than Jesus did.  They would never say that, but that is how they act.  Jesus said:

    The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.

    It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord – Matthew 10:24-25

Following are just some of the results that you will experience if you don’t get your pride under control:

• Self-deception (Galatians 6:3, 1 Corinthians 8:2)
• Spiritual blindness (Deuteronomy 8:14)
• Malicious spirit (Psalms 119:85)
• Arguments (Proverbs 13:10)
• Violence (Psalms 73:6
• Injustice (Psalms 119:78)
• Contempt for God (Psalms 10:4)

Fixes your direction

Reading the Bible every day will help you to see what path you are supposed to follow.  It will fix your direction for you:

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. – Psalms 119:9

The only way that you can know which path is the right path is by taking heed of what the word of God has to say on the matter.  You need to be rooted and grounded (Colossians 2:7) and the only way that you will be rooted and grounded is to spend time in Gods word.

Gods word is intended to be understood.  God wants you to know what he is saying to you today.  That is why we have his word in our language:

For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.

It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. – Deuteronomy 30:11-14

The Lord has made his word available to everyone (Psalms 119:130)

Through public reading (1 Timothy 4:13)

Through study (2 Timothy 2:15)

Though thoughtful mediation (Psalms 119:15, 97)

Reading the Bible daily will:

• Keep you pure
• Show you your path
• Keep you humble
• Help you to stay on course

Our hope at Irvington Bible Baptist Church is that this podcast provided some encouragement and has helped you to develop a closer relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ