Bro. Roberts saw the value of reading from scripture daily. He developed a daily reading plan at age 15 in 1854. The faithful have used the Bible Companion ever since as a systematic plan for the daily consumption of the word of God. Countless exhortations have centered on the value of reading the Bible daily.
Like daily food
A parallel has often been made between our need for daily food to sustain vigorous physical life and the daily digestion of God’s holy word to sustain vigorous spiritual life. God established the relationship between daily food and daily consideration of His word. Consider Jesus’ answer to the temptation of turning stones to bread: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Jesus displays the parallel between food and the word of God by answering the temptation in this manner. He quotes from Deut. 8:3, “And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of Yahweh doth man live.”
Learning from hunger
God made them hunger in the wilderness to show that they did not live by daily intake of food but by the word of God. God made us. He created our dependence on food -our daily hunger. The parable-like lesson is to develop a daily hunger for the food that will provide life eternal. It is a God-given parallel between our daily meals and the necessity for daily consumption of God’s word, the source of true sustenance.
Kings to read daily
The kings of Israel were commanded to read scripture every day. Four blessings would accompany their daily personal examination of God’s word. This command and the resulting blessing are found in Deut. 17:14 – 20. The key verses are 18-20: “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.”
A handwritten copy
The king had to personally write a copy of God’s law. He could not give this job to a secretary — it had to be his hand, his time, his writing instrument! That copy of God’s law had to be with him, whether at home or away, in the field at war or in the palace in peace, convenient or inconvenient — it had to be with him.
The purpose in having this copy of God’s word with him was to read from it “all the days of his life.” Four blessing would follow. They are each preceded in the record by the word “that.”
To fear God
The king should do his daily readings “that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them.” The first blessing of the daily readings is that we will learn to fear God. This is the “Beginning of wisdom;” we “perfect holiness in the fear of God;” and we practice obedience through the motivation we derive from the fear of God.
To be humble
The second blessing is “that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren.” The word of God has a humbling effect. Consider the value of developing humility: “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the spirit of the contrite ones.” (Isa. 57:15) We can be humbled daily by scripture and develop humility as a character trait.
To be obedient
The third blessing is “that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left.” Consider the value of knowing what is the right thing to do. If we partake daily of God’s word and make it a part of us — as a vine drinks daily of the nutrients provided by heaven and earth in order to bear a beautiful and useful fruit — so we, too, will bear fruit.
We will see the narrow gate and the difficult way so much more clearly, and will be less likely to stumble to the right or to the left. The light issuing from God’s word will provide clear direction in the darkness of this world. The natural light, however, fades every day. The parable-like lesson is clear — our spiritual light will fade if we do not replenish it daily. If the spiritual light is not renewed, we will be walking in darkness, far more likely to stumble or wander from the narrow way which leads to eternal life.
To provide life for the family
The last of the four blessings is the greatest and most wonderful of all — “that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.” We want to prolong our days. This is the same terminology used of Jesus Christ in Isaiah 53 concerning the gift of eternal life to be given him when he would make his soul an offering for sin. We long to be in the kingdom and most definitely want to see our children there. Do we do our daily readings? Do we read them with our children?
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One