Falling Behind in Your Bible Reading Plan Isn’t Your Greatest Danger

Don’t Miss the Point

Perhaps the biggest danger in reading and studying our Bibles is to miss the whole point, which is to miss encountering Jesus, the risen Lord and Savior of us all. It makes me think of the disciples on the road to Emmaus in the Gospel of Luke.

Jesus is walking with them after the events of the crucifixion, and they don’t even realize it. He’s right there, and they’re discussing what has happened to Jesus, but they don’t realize that Jesus is right there with them and he’s right in front of them. It’s not until he opens their eyes to his glory through interpreting the Scriptures that they see him.

Kristen Wetherell

In Help for the Hungry Soul, author Kristen Wetherell offers 8 encouragements to spur an appetite for God’s word—the only thing that can truly satisfy a soul hungry for more.

Luke calls this “slowness of heart to believe.” This is what Jesus says: “You are slow of heart to believe.” And I wonder how many of us are like that. We open the Scriptures with good intentions. We want to cross that box off our Bible reading plan. We want to take something good away with us throughout the day, and yet somehow we still miss Jesus. We miss that we’re actually abiding with and communing with a living person who lives and reigns in heaven.

And so some questions we might ask as we go through the Scriptures that we’re reading to help us not miss Jesus are: where do I see him in this passage? Is Jesus the perfect fulfillment of a great leader that I see here? Is he the opposite of a terrible person that I see here? What promises has Jesus fulfilled?

Questions like these will help us not to miss him, and we can pray for the Holy Spirit’s help to see Jesus as we open his word.

Kristen Wetherell is the author of Help for the Hungry Soul: Eight Encouragements to Grow Your Appetite for God’s Word.

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