[247 words]
When surveyed, 75 percent of Americans think the nation’s morality is heading downhill. Almost a third of respondents said that moral decline was a result of people not reading the Bible, 88 percent of them own a Bible, 80 percent think it is sacred, and 61 percent wished they read their Bible more.
Yet only 26 percent of Americans said they read their Bible on a regular basis (four or more times a week). Of those who do say they read their Bible the majority, 57 percent, only do so four times a year or less.
It isn’t a matter of knowing what we need or having the ability or resources to do it, it is the doing it that seems to be the problem.
We can see what happens to a society that suffers from a lack of knowledge of God’s word (Hosea 4:6). If we know the world needs it, do we think we don’t? God’s word is a vaccine against the diseases of immorality, a guard watching over our heavenly treasure, and a safety harness for our soul. If we don’t take the medicine, don’t set the alarm, or neglect to attach rig, do we expect it to do any good?
Bible study must begin with me. If I want the world to get better I must work to be better. If I know the world needs the Bible, then I need to be a reader of it.
If we don’t, who will?
Barry Haynes
Hope church of Christ
Hope, AR