It’s natural—or should be—for Christians to go to the Bible for our spiritual needs. God has promised to meet our needs. His Word gives us hope, assurance, comfort, guidance, and so much more.
But if we’re not careful, we can approach Bible reading with an “all about me” attitude. What’s in it for me, how does it relate to me, how does it make me feel.
Instead, the Bible is all about God. God wants to meet our needs, but more than that, He wants us to know Him. He told Jeremiah of the exiles He was punishing, “I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart” (Jeremiah 24:7). Throughout the Bible we see His longing for a people to know Him.
Eternal life begins with coming to know God. Jesus said, “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). But when Paul said “that I may know him” in Philippians 3:10, he already knew Him as Lord and Savior. Yet he longed to know God more. Peter tells us to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).
My husband and I met and started dating in college in SC. But in May, he went home to Idaho, and I went home to TX for the long summer until we saw each other again the next fall. I’m sure I spent much of those summers apart gazing at the photos I had of him. But to get to know him better, I heard his words during the few phone calls we could afford and read them in his letters.
2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” We can’t behold an accurate physical image of God in a painting or photograph. But we behold Him in His Word.
And in His Word, we find that He is good, loving, kind, merciful, righteous, powerful, wise, always present. We see His declarations about Himself. We read what the prophets of old said about Him. We see His actions in dealing with people throughout the Bible.
When we see our capable God, we’re assured He can handle anything, and anxiety melts away. When we see Him as the God of all comfort, our sorrow or pain is eased. When we see His ability to provide abundantly, over and above our need, we trust Him. When we see His calm and control, our fretfulness dissipates as we rest in Him.
The more we get to know Him, the more secure we are in His love, the more confidence we have in His wisdom, character, and provision.
And as we get to know Him, we trust Him more. We trust His promises in individual Bible verses, but more than that, we trust His character and His ability to take care of every need we have. We move beyond just getting our needs met and we find the ways He wants us to show His love and truth to others.
We don’t get to know Him just to get our needs met. But in getting to know Him, our needs are met.
So as we come to His Word, let us look for Him on every page. Let’s know and trust and love Him more and more each day.
In Thy truth Thou dost direct me
by Thy Spirit through Thy Word;
and Thy grace my need is meeting
as I trust in Thee, my Lord.
Of Thy fullness Thou art pouring
Thy great love and pow’r on me
without measure, full and boundless,
drawing out my heart to Thee.
From “Here Is Love” by William Rees
(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)
Stray Thoughts 
So enjoyed your post ma’am. I loved your point of “it’s not about you, it’s about God.” Something I’m learning though is that the more I learn about God, and the more He enables me to apply His Son’s characteristics to my life (with admittedly a very long way to go), I’m finding that His Word does in fact apply directly to me. As I endeavor to learn to be more like His Son, His Word often points out the areas where I still require a great deal of work. Let us always remember that our goal during this period of sanctification is to grow more like Him and less like us. Great post!
Thanks so much, JD. The more we behold Him, the more we become like Him.
Love this!
Amen. The more I know Him, the more I want to share about Him with others. 🙂 Have a blessed week!
Sometime in the last week or two I started really thinking about all the Old Testament stories and realizing that if we look at them with Abraham or Jacob or David as the protagonist we’re missing a lot of the richness. GOD is the hero and protagonist of the entire Bible. It’s a story of God’s desire to love the humanity he created and his provision to make that happen. The more I learn about him, the more I get to know him . . . yes, the more I love him!
Amen!
I remember those long distance phone calls with my husband that meant to much and cost so much! Our kiddos today have no idea how relationships can endure and grow with real periods of separation due to long distance. The more I know about Him – it all begins with His word – and His word leads to trust. . . ., and, love grows as we learn more about Him – real love! And when we become God-focused, we finally learn about who we are! You set this up so very well!
I loved this post. I needed some of these reminders, too. Lately my time in the Word has “felt” stale….not sure why….but I’m going to approach it a bit differently tomorrow morning…..i’m in a “Dry” spot currently and again, I’m just not sure why. I need to see my time in the Word as worship I think. I mean, I do but..hard to explain here. I’m in a rut I think or reading just because it’s “duty”. Hm…..you’ve given me some food to chew on, Barbara!! Glad I popped in tonight!
“We don’t get to know Him just to get our needs met. But in getting to know Him, our needs are met.”
Wow! This is truth to stop me in my tracks!
Barbara, what a blessed message. Amen and Amen.
Thank you for sharing this with Sweet Tea & Friends this month.
I so agree! It truly bothers me when folks focus on what they may gain instead of what he has already done….n that is more than enough! Yes it is all about him, not me.
Barbara, so beautiful. I love God’s Word. I have been praying before reading, and it is always incredible to journey with Him in His Word.
I’m so thankful for His Word, Barbara! I’ve really enjoyed listening to different audio Bibles the past few years.
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