My kids love Power Rangers. I didn’t even know Power Rangers were still around until my kindergartner came home from school obsessed with them. It turned out playing Power Rangers was the thing to do on the playground and my son was not going to miss out on that. So, I let him watch some. Very quickly it was the only thing he wanted to watch or do. When the TV was off, he was still thinking Power Rangers. When he played with his brother, they played Power Rangers. Our house was filled with talk about bad guys, transforming, and fighting. So much fighting.

I had enough and put a Power Ranger ban in our house. I thought it would be a silly show to entertain, but it filled his mind and changed him. I was concerned about those changes in him.

We can be affected the same way. What are we filling our minds with? Where do we fix our thoughts?

Romans 12:2 says “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  Paul also wrote in Philippians 4:8, “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Nothing is more true that the Bible, the inspired word of God. And nothing can transform us more in our walk with Christ.

Through reading the Bible we come face to face with a personal God who chose to reveal himself to us through his Word. Think about it. God could have remained a distant being, the one who set the world into place, but left it to its own devices. Instead, God decided to initiate relationship with us. To share what work he has done for us. To make promises to care for us and to form covenants with us so that we might have eternal life.

[Tweet “Through reading the Bible we come face to face with a personal God who chose to reveal himself to us through his Word.”]

More than a revelation, God gave us Scripture to redeem us from our fallen state and to change us into the people he created us to be. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

The truth is we are all being changed. We are all being affected by the people we listen to and the things we feed our minds with – more than we care to admit. Who is that? What are we allowing to influence us? And are we moving towards God? Or from him?

*****

One of the biggest complaints I hear from people about reading the Bible (besides trying to find the time to do it) is that they don’t feel that their time reading is effective. Either they feel pressured to get through a certain number of chapters every day (thank you, read through the Bible plans) or don’t connect with the words.

I would like to offer this month a “back to school special” of different ways to spend time in the Bible. Perhaps you’ve seen them before, but forgot about them. Perhaps you are opening the holy book for the first time. Whatever your experience, I hope these words are encouraging and refreshing for you.

To receive this series in your inbox every Tuesday morning (beginning tomorrow!), please enter your email address on the right side of the screen under “Subscribe to Blog via Email.”

I look forward to our time together!

*****

Week 1: How Not to Read the Bible

Week 2: Devotional Reading: Reading to be Transformed

Week 3: Meditation of Scripture: Dwelling in God’s Word

Week 4: Bible Study: Seeking to Understand