Why do I read the Bible (almost) every day?

As I walked to work this morning, I was listening to an old sermon from my church (I have a schedule that now makes me work on Sundays, so this is how I get my teaching, now.) and Pastor Dave Wick was preaching in this one about "sanctification" and the difference between "pietism" and "legalism".

So, as I started reading my Bible this morning, I got to thinking, why am I reading the Bible? Is it because I think it's required by God as some sort of act that will sanctify me, or do the actual words on the page have some sort of divine power in and of themselves? Well, the written word in a book, itself, has no power, except for what the reader attaches to them. And to someone who is not a Christian, I'm sure some impact would come, because the words written are full of wisdom.

But for a Christian, one who has been baptized by the Holy Spirit, there is a power in the words. But it does not come from the words themselves, as if the words are indwelt by that same Spirit. The power comes from my eyes being opened to the truth by the power of the Spirit. It doesn't come from my own wisdom, because my wisdom is corrupt, damaged by the fall and the sin which pervades this present world.

In other words, without the Spirit, I have no power to gain any other than the most rudimentary insight from the written words of the Bible. The Flesh, as Paul referred to the sinful component that every man is suffused with since birth, cannot understand the Truth of the Bible without being given the power and ability by God, through the power of His Spirit.

So, I came to the conclusion that I read, not because the act itself sanctifies or even saves me, but because the Spirit within me has given me the desire, and the ability, to read and understand the words of the book. Without Him, it's just another book of wisdom, but a wisdom I would never fully grasp. As Paul, in Romans, makes so primitively plain, our Salvation comes solely, totally, completely from the Lord, so that I can never boast that anything I have done has brought me salvation. From the act of hearing and understanding, to actually believing, and finally submitting to that Truth, it all comes from Him, to His Glory alone!