Good day
The Bible is a collection of books and it holds great significance because it speaks of God's covenant with mankind. In it, we are made aware of God's love towards us; we come to know about Jesus Christ and the salvation that He bought for us when He died on the cross and rose again. We come to know of the many covenant promises that are available to us as His children that are freely received by faith. The Bible reveals to us God's intention for His creation; what He expects of His creation and also the eternal life that awaits us. Thank God for all those whom He has used to pen these books and that it's so widely made available for us today.
As believers, there are many benefits to reading the Bible. Below are just a few to mention:
It gives us discernment: Hebrews 4:12 - For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
It guards us from committing sin: Psalm 119:11 - I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You.
It helps us grow in wisdom: Psalm 111:10 - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. Proverbs 2:6 - For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding
It teaches us how to live: 2 Timothy 3:16-17 - All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
It develops faith: Romans 10:17 - So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
It teaches us how to be truly successful: Joshua 1:8 - Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
What I would like to share over these next few weeks is our approach to reading the Bible.
Firstly, we must always remember that God loves us and therefore every instruction or promise given to us is done so out of a heart of love. In the same way that a parent tells their children not to do certain things out of love, God's instructions are the same. It's there to protect and help us.
The Bible says that God is love (1 John 4:8), therefore everything we read about God must be read through the lenses of love. If I may say so, the Bible is like a love story between God and mankind; and like any love story, it's about relationship.
Reading the Bible is one of the best ways in which we can discover more about the Person that's in love with us. We come to learn of His character, His attributes, His wants, desires, likes and dislikes. We begin to take on His perspective towards things, we begin to desire the same things He desires, we start to notice a change in our character as we seek to become more like Him. It's a covenant relationship, where all that we have belongs to Him and all that He is belongs to us ... and we learn more about the One we're in covenant with through reading the Bible.
The first lesson in how to approach reading the Bible is not so much knowing "what" you're reading about - but rather "who" you're reading about. The "what" is vital because it deals with understanding and knowledge of the content - but having great knowledge without knowing the Author of that knowledge doesn't get us very far. Therefore the first thing when picking up the Bible is reminding yourself that you're about to read/learn/discover something about the One who loves you more than anyone else on this planet!
(Next time i'll speak about 4 other things we ought to do before we actually start any reading of the Bible)
I would encourage you to read the below article, it gives a very good description of the importance of the Bible.