3. My ability to live an abundant life with God is affected by my knowledge of and regular connection with Scripture.

(Before looking at the questions below, take a few minutes to think about this statement. Invite Jesus to speak to you about what He would like you to notice.) 

Do you believe that a regular diet of Scripture is essential for an abundant life?

Does your rhythm of reading, listening, and meditating on Scripture reflect this belief?

What are some of the bigger challenges that tend to keep you from regular Bible reading and meditation?

It is a simple truth that without the Bible, there would be no followers of Jesus and no churches. Although Christians differ in their opinions about many of the statements, stories, and ideas presented in Scripture, and even about how one should follow Jesus, the Bible provides the core truths that help us begin and participate in a relationship with God. These core truths include the reality of the God who created humankind, His desire to connect with each person in a relationship that brings about abundance, and the incarnation of God in Jesus as the way to this relationship and abundance. 

It could be argued that once we have and hold these core beliefs, we no longer need the Bible. But our history and present circumstances show that belief is not enough. The abundance and the relationship that God desires for us requires changes in our behavior and a transformation of our souls. The Bible not only presents the vision of abundance, but it also provides the roadmap to arrive at this abundance. 

Let’s look at three of the ways that the Bible serves as this roadmap: It is a trainer, encourager, and companion.  One challenge in finding our way into the abundant life is convincing our bodies to go along with what our minds and hearts believe we need to be and do. In this situation the Bible serves as our trainer. For example, throughout Scripture, we see instructions to treat others, both friends and enemies, with kindness and mercy. We are to care for and prefer others without judging, and when we disagree, we are to reconcile our differences with others. 

All this sounds good in principle. But the reality is often just the opposite: we prefer ourselves, criticize others, withhold grace and compassion, and engage in conflict with others.  Why is this? Though the Bible is clear in what it calls us to, we either haven’t really chosen to believe, or we believe but haven’t conformed our behavior to our beliefs. In this case, Scripture, with the Spirit, can guide us to transformation, training us to live differently and behave consistently with our beliefs. Without this training, we likely will fail to live as we say we believe. 

The Bible is also our encourager as we seek to enjoy the abundance that comes through our transformation. Our biggest enemy is not our failure to live as we know we should—God is always ready to forgive us, but the guilt and shame we experience when we fail. Such guilt and shame are a much bigger danger than failure. Scripture encourages us in these situations by reminding us that God always treats us with grace and kindness and loves us no matter what. 

Another way that the Bible can be our encourager is that it includes the stories of the failures of the great people who followed God and experienced His abundance in spite of their failures. Finally, the Bible encourages us when it gives us a vision of what we could be, with God’s help, and speaks to the deep longings of our hearts that thirst for God and His abundance. 

The third way that the Bible assists us on our journey is that it can become our companion by helping us learn to hear the voice of God, Jesus, and the Spirit. God wants to participate in our lives, for He knows that the greatest abundance we experience will come through an intimate relationship with Him. Scripture can be the voice of God for us as we are learning to recognize His voice and it can lead us into this relationship with God that meets our deepest longings for love and intimacy.   

The abundant life that Jesus came to give us will naturally happen when we make the Bible a regular part of our daily life, exploring its stories, learning its ways, and letting God speak to us through it.