Today’s Inspiration. If you’ve been following along in the Writing Life Challenge this August, you may have noticed that every day I’ve said some version of read your Bible. The verse that inspired today’s challenge—and will inspire the challenge for the next several days—is about the Bible, and is 2 Timothy 3:16:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. (NIV)

Although this verse is a big answer to the question in and of itself, we’ll first turn once more to the question of why.

Today’s Challenge. Today’s challenge is to ask the question, Why should I read the Bible? and to find answers to the question in the Bible.

Let me stop for a minute and explain something here. This challenge—and the majority of blog posts I write—is intended for a Christian audience, for people already claiming to believe in God and in Jesus as their savior. So I’m not suggesting that people ask why they should read the Bible over another religious text, although that is a valid question. But it’s a valid question for another post, another audience. What I’m suggesting is that people who say they believe—people who say, “Yes, I’m a Christian”—should make it a practice (regularly) to read the Bible.

There are so many reasons for Christians to read the Bible, and for some of you this may seem like such a basic question it isn’t even worth your time. But I think a version of it is worth the time for all of us: Either Why should I read the Bible? if you don’t read it regularly, or Why do I read the Bible? as a type of self-examination (perhaps even journaling) if you do. I suggest you tackle this question first with prayer, and then by reflecting on the verse that inspired today’s topic, 2 Timothy 3:16.

From there, you can do some further exploration. Perhaps you could explore the idea that the Bible is God’s “love letter” to us, one of the most significant ways he chose to communicate to humanity. Or perhaps you want to explore the idea that as God’s word to us, you can find guidance and direction for your life by reading it. Or you could start by reading a credible blog, like this one from Answers in Genesis.

Today’s Participation. Either in person or online (e.g., in the comments below, or in an Instagram post using the hashtag #writinglifeaugustchallenge), invite another person(s) to engage in conversation with you about why it’s important to read the Bible. You could do this simply by making a statement and asking a question in return: “I read the Bible because _______. Why do you read?” or “I need to read the Bible because _______. Do you read it?” I would love to see your responses!