Offering Violence by the Reading of The Word

Showing the Holy Violence A Christian is to Put Forth in the Pursuit After Glory

In chapter three Thomas Watson deals with offering violence by the reading of the word. Dear reader do you read the word? How much do you read the word? How do you read the word? Do you understand what you are reading? Is reading the word of God a delight to your soul? Dear friend do you tremble at His word?

The puritans read the word every day and about 15 chapters a day. I am amazed at how little effort we Christians put forth to read the sacred scriptures. Lets put it this way, it takes about 72 hours to read the bible in its entirety, at a casual speed. Ask Max McLean. Divide that by 365 days in a year and you get a little more than 5 minutes a day. Now I am told that it is good to brush my teeth after each meal, three times a day at least for 2 minutes each time. That would add up to be 6 minutes of brushing my teeth per day and 5 minutes of reading the word. My teeth might last a little longer, but how can my soul be ablaze with a strong fortified zealous faith.

My dear reader I am preaching to my soul as well as yours, may we be violent with ourselves and cut off all our unfounded weak arguments that have resurrected themselves against ourselves. Thus do as Augustine heard from dear little children...Take up...Take up and read.

Watson said we must provoke ourselves to reading of the Word. What an infinite mercy it is that God has honored us with the scriptures! Read the Word as a book made by God Himself. It is given by divine inspiration (2 Tim. 3:16). It is the library of the Holy Spirit. The word is of divine origin and reveals the deep things of God to us. ...Every blade of grass speaks of God. Read the Word as a perfect rule of faith; it contains all things essential to salvation. "I adore the fullness of scripture," saith Tertullian. The word teaches us how to please God; how to order our conversation in the world. It instructs us in all things that belong either to prudence or piety. How should we read the Word with care and reverence, when it contains a perfect model and platform of religion and is "able to make us wise unto salvation" (2 Tim. 3:15)! When you read the Word , look on it as a soul-enriching treasury. Search here as for a vein of silver (Pro. 2:4) Read the Word as a book of evidences! Would you know whether God is your God? Search the records of scriptures ,"Hereby we know whether you are heirs of the promise?(1 John. 3:24)
Look upon the Word as a spiritual magazine out of which you fetch all your weapons to fight against sin. The word of God is a consecrated sword that's cuts asunder the lusts of the heart. Read it as a book by which you will be judged.

Do you have a regular bible reading plan? I would like to hear about it. Does it work well with your soul? Reading the bible clear through in a year is as I suppose, a place to start , but as I have pointed out above, do you want to devote as much time with God in His precious word as brushing your teeth? And how can you remember what you read last year? Here's my reading plan . I like to read Psalms and proverbs every month. Psalms for it's prayer and praise. Proverbs for it's wisdom. Which I am in desperate need of daily. I read 5 chapters of Psalms each day in the morning to awaken and to arouse myself toward worshiping God. Then I read 1 chapter of Proverbs per morning so as to have wisdom through out the day. Then I read the New Testament for about 1 hour and a half. At night then I read the Old Testament for 1 hour.I must do this to keep any spiritual fervor. It might sound like a bit much for some. I do not say this to boast only that I know how much I need. I know myself. Luther spent 3 to 4 hours each morning in intense prayer, why because he said...I know myself and that is how much I need to be in prayer lest I go out and sin so easily.