Neglecting the Book

We know that there are people all over the world who do not have a copy of the Bible in their language yet still we choose to neglect our reading of it and let it gather dust on the shelf. So maybe that's not enough for us, after all us reading the Bible isn't going to help them get one, but what if there were very real consequences to us neglecting the word of God, would that be enough?

Well thankfully we can see an example of what this looks like in 2 Kings 22:
Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.

11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. 12 He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: 13 “Go and inquire of the LORD for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the LORD’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.” (2 Kings 22:10-13 NIV)
The book that Hilkiah had found is the book of the Law. It's the Bible and it should make us furious that they lost it in the first place. But I fear that too often it doesn't. I know I should read my Bible every day, but sometimes I struggle to do that on my day off, and there are times when I get "too busy" to read it, which is a complete lie, I'm never THAT busy, but I still make excuses. So what are the consequences? Well we can see very clearly that Josiah was alarmed by what was read, he knew that they had broken these laws and he knew that the consequences of doing so was pretty severe.

And THAT for us is the consequence of neglecting God's word. We can talk all we want about how other people aren't allowed a Bible, but that's just trying to guilt trip us in to reading our Bible and I'm not convinced that guilt is a good long term motivator. 2 Kings 22 tells us that the Word of God gives us our connection to him and by neglecting the Bible we are effectively neglecting God, and could end up running away from him. As I read 2 Kings 22 I know that I need to be more concerned with reading my Bible, I hope that isn't an issue for you but if it is know that it's never too late to start and maybe you can dust off your Bible and read a long with me, I may not publish a blog every day, but I look to do it at least five days a week, and there are plenty of great Bible reading schedules online. If you have a smart phone I'm told there are some great Bible Reading Apps that include schedules. I don't have a smart phone, but I know some of my readers do, perhaps you can post more suggestions in the comments.