Should Christians Only Read The Bible?

I should imagine, that if you're anything like me, you would like to have a definite answer to this question. 

Serious, diligent Christians who sincerely wish to serve God and to love Him with all of their hearts, souls, and minds, do in fact ask this and many other questions to do with daily Christian living.

So, should Christians whose desire is to please God only read their Bibles? (Aside from recipes, messages, lists, instructions, and essential documents, that is.) Must they pass by all of the tempting covers of a myriad Christian novels and non-fiction books?

My perhaps unsatisfactory answer, is "perhaps." Now, you may feel disatisfied with this, but hear me out.

I say "perhaps" because I really can't tell you what to read or not to read. That is the job of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, you may need to fast from light reading in order to spend more time in God's Word. You may even have to say no to the writings of Spurgeon, Murray, or Moody. At other times, you may feel led to pick up a book by a Christian author and be totally encouraged and inspired by it.

It's time to be completely honest. When I  was a younger Christian, I sadly admit that I barely picked up my Bible. Instead, I would read a huge selection of Christian books. The truth is, I was so busy reading these books, that I completely neglected my Bible. This had a very negative impact on my relationship with the Lord and of course, my Bible knowledge. Now, admitedly, some of these books were excellent: there was nothing wrong or bad about them. The problem was, they had pushed my Bible out of its rightful place.

Today I see such an unhealthy trend in Christian circles. We run to You Tube, books, and blog articles to find people to answer our questions and to tell us what to do. We want to know which schedule we should follow, which diet, which Bible study program, which fads and fashions. Once we find the gurus we like, we latch on, subscribe, follow, download, and hang on to their every word. It's a problem. You see, by doing this, we are following people, not God, and we forget that as Christians we must live by the Spirit. What we really need to do is throw out all the experts and gurus and pick up God's Word. His Word will be our guide, and we will know what  we should do.

So, this is why too much book reading can lead us astray. We as Christians need to spend plenty of time in God's Word so we can hear His voice. 

So, yes, my answer to the above question remains "perhaps."

Perhaps you need to put those Christian novels aside for a while. Or perhaps you need to read a good Christian book that God has highlighted to you.

May God bless you as you walk in His Spirit.

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Scripture reference: Galatians 5: 16-26

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I Believe

I believe in the babe in a manger

I believe that He heals and sets free

I believe in the cross at Mount Cal'vry

and the tomb made empty for you and me

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Copyright: Alison Lawrence  

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