The word study has some terrible associations. The mere thought of studying makes me feel some stress. And yet we study all the time. We study people, nature, politics, the media, the stock market, and a variety of other things.

Some things are worth our study; some are not. Wedged in between verses on peace, Philippians 4:8 says, “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” This passage is about studying. And it’s about peace. Studying the work and Word of God, brings peace.

When someone is injured, he will often feel false pain even long after the wound has healed. Researchers theorize that this felt pain is due to the consistency of the pain signal during the healing process. The pain is so acute and so constant that the brain studies and learns the pain signal. Now, if we study God’s Word continually—if we set our minds on Christ—then our brains will memorize the “signal” and be reformatted to the new pattern. Our minds will be transformed to be more like the mind of God. Our minds will be changed. We will think differently.

So why don’t we pick up our Bibles more often? Some of us are afraid because of our sin. Some of us find it all rather tedious. Some of us are too busy. Some of us have already heard it all. Some of us just don’t get it.

I bristle at “Bible Reading” because I grew up being told it was a must-do for Christians. And if you don’t regularly read your Bible, well, what kind of Christian are you, really?

Let me share something with you. I am sometimes dumbfounded at the sublimity of nature. I have seen sunsets that I still remember decades later. Mountains humble me. The ocean mocks my understanding of size. And outer space, well, I just can’t fathom it. And the One who made all of this beauty, this beauty that I can’t attain to, he has spoken to me. I want to know what he has to say to me. I want to know him better. I want to be more like him. So I read about him in his Word—words that he breathed out, perfect words. Words that say he loves me!

So I pick up my Bible and I study it. I chew on a single verse. I gulp up great quantities of it. I meditate on it. I memorize it. I revel in it. It contains the words of life. And that, quite simply, is why I must read it.