It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance of daily Bible reading in the family. Daily reading is an obligation resting heavily upon those who seek to become well pleasing to God. But those who search the Scriptures daily soon discover that the feeling of obligation has transformed itself into a feeling of privilege and pleasure. Those who read daily will not have to be reminded of their duty, for they will find themselves drawn to it like a magnet with ever increasing force. And they can well express themselves in the words of David, “0 how I love thy law ! it is my meditation all the day. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies : for they are ever with me.” The daily reading of the Bible is a reasonable service, supported by the most direct and simple logic. We are told that God’s cleansing power operates through our knowledge of His word. John 15:3. And that faith comes by hearing the word of God (Rom. 10:17). Faith is that power in the mind by which we can obtain victory over the world (I Jno. 5:4). So’, those who neglect the daily reading of the Bible are neglecting the only power God has graciously provided for victory over the evils that beset our weak nature.
Jesus had become so familiar with the scriptures that he was immediately ready with the power of the Word to combat every temptation in the wilderness. The Tempter suggested that Jesus use God’s power to supply bread for his hunger. But the power to overcome the suggestion of the lower nature was present in the mind, and on the tip of the tongue— “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” ( (Matt. 4:3, 4). Occasional or haphazard reading will never produce this kind of familiarity.
We find ourselves defenseless before the power of temptation when the word of the Lord is a stranger to the mind—temptation can do its perfect work while we struggle with a neglected memory of the word of God.
Modern advertisers arrange to keep the name of their particular product so constantly before the mind of the public that it cannot be forgotten when they visit the store.
Those things going to make up the “whole armour of God” (Eph. 6) are all qualities of character that can only be acquired by familiarity with the word of God. Some of us may never be able to put the whole armour on, or it may fit us rather loosely, but let us not be of those who show by their neglect of daily reading that they are not even trying to put it on. The wise men will surely form the habit of daily reading so that the Word of the living God may become a living oracle in his mind.
Parents who read the Bible daily will find that their children grow up assuming without question that daily Bible reading is an important part of right living. For it is truly said that what children observe in the lives of their parents is of greater influence than what they are told.
In the opinion of most brethren. the “Bible Companion”—so well known among Christadelphians is the best method ever devised for the daily reading of the Bible. It is said that brother Roberts arranged those tables when he was only 16 years old. It could not be said to be the only good method of daily reading, but those who claim to have discovered a better method for themselves seldom follow their improvement.
It is a pleasing thought, and contributes to the unity of the spirit, for all brethren, scattered throughout the world, to be reading the same chapters, pondering the same ideas, and all the same day.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One