If You’re Not Doing Bible Reading, You’re in Trouble

Let’s be real. We live in a culture where everyone calls themselves a Christian, but very few actually open their Bibles. And I don’t mean casually scrolling a verse on Instagram. I mean real Bible reading — sitting with Scripture, wrestling with it, submitting to it.

And that should concern us.

Because if you’re not doing Bible reading — you are in danger. Serious danger. Not because I say so. Because God does.

Bible reading isn’t optional for true believers

Jesus said it plainly:

“If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples.”
— John 8:31

That means if you’re not abiding — staying, living, continuing — in His Word, you’re not His disciple.

You may be a churchgoer.
You may be a spiritual person.
You may be sincere.
But you’re not a disciple.

That should shake us.

I used to call myself a Christian — but I wasn’t in the Word

For most of my life, I would’ve told you I was a Christian. I believed in God. I went to church sometimes. I said the right things. But I wasn’t reading the Bible — and I certainly wasn’t convicted over sin. I didn’t even feel the weight of my sin.

That changed about three years ago, when I finally started studying the Bible seriously. And I’ll be honest with you — that’s when I began to question whether I’d ever truly been saved before. Not because I had lost my salvation, but because I had never experienced conviction, transformation, or hunger for God’s truth until I opened His Word.

The moment I got into Scripture, everything shifted. I saw myself clearly for the first time. I felt godly sorrow. And I realized: this is what it means to be alive in Christ.

That’s why I’m not speaking from some spiritual pedestal. I know what it’s like to wear the Christian label and not be walking in the light.

Real believers hunger for God’s Word

Yes, we all go through dry seasons. But if there’s no hunger at all for truth — no desire to know what God says — that’s a red flag. That’s not just weakness. That’s possible spiritual death.

“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.”
— 1 Peter 2:2

If you’re alive in Christ, you crave His Word. And that means actual Bible reading — not just coasting on sermons, songs, or secondhand spirituality.

Ignorance is not a long-term excuse

God is patient with immaturity. He knows when someone is just starting out. But He doesn’t wink at willful laziness.

“To whom much was given, of him much will be required.”
— Luke 12:48

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
— Hosea 4:6

You cannot grow, stand, or discern truth from error if you’re not soaking yourself in the only source of truth that never changes — the Word of God.

And if you never open it, you’re not just drifting — you’re drowning.

Bible reading protects you from deception

There are a lot of kind, sincere people who never crack open a Bible. But being nice doesn’t mean you’re born again. Hell will be full of “nice” people who never submitted to the truth.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven…”
— Matthew 7:21

This isn’t legalism. This is the difference between life and death.

You can’t recognize lies if you don’t know what truth sounds like. That’s why Bible reading isn’t just a good habit — it’s spiritual survival. If you’re struggling to trust Scripture or know how to defend it, I shared some critical insights in Answering Objections to the Bible’s Authority — and I urge you to take that seriously.

So let me say it as plainly as I can:

If you’re not doing Bible reading, you are in trouble.

Because you can’t follow a Savior you don’t hear.
You can’t obey a Lord you don’t know.
And you can’t walk in truth when you’re living off spiritual scraps.

Get in the Word. Stay in the Word. Live by the Word.

Because Jesus is not just your Savior — He is the Word made flesh.
And if you’re not abiding in Him, you’re not abiding at all.

Arch Kennedy
Bold, Unfiltered, and Unafraid