Why We Must Study Scripture Daily

This message probably does not come as something new to most people reading this, but HaShem has put this on my heart today; therefor I must share the deeper reasons that he has revealed to me, explaining why it is so important that we study scripture every single day. Understand that the spiritual reality and our physical reality are completely opposite of one another, kind of like a mirror image. Through our five senses, we perceive the physical reality each day, but it takes much work before we can begin to perceive the spiritual reality. It requires new sensory perception that we are not born with, we must earn it. When we eat food, we are able to nourish our bodies, but not our spirit, and this is why The Bible instructs us to fast. When we make physical sacrifices for the sake of the spiritual, we enable our spirt to ascend, which brings down more light into this physical reality; not only for us, but for everyone around us as well. The wise sages have taught us that it only takes the good deeds and prayers of one righteous man to bring down enough light to sustain the entire earth. This idea of fasting may seem difficult for us to comprehend, but scripture makes this very clear in lots of verses. We should think of fasting as a way to humble yourself in the sight of G*d, exactly as King David specifically told us this in verse below:

"But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom." - Psalm 35:13

"Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods." - Ezra 8:21

"“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;" - Joel 2:12

Now that we have established the importance of fasting and how the lack of the physical actually nourishes the spiritual, the following verses will now transition us back to the topic of why it is so important for us to read and study scripture each day.

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” - Matthew 4:1-4

There you have it, directly from the mouth of Our LORD and Savior, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." It's the Word of G*d that feeds our spirit and not our food. We all know that the prolonged lack of food can make us weak and even sick, lack of spiritual food will do the same, only we don't perceive it the same way. Just because it is beyond our perception doesn't mean that it's not absolute reality. We obviously can't perceive germs and parasites, but we know (all too well) of their absolute reality. Scripture is the spiritual food that we must intake daily, in order to bring us closer to HaShem.

Just as our words emit from our mouths' with the breath that we exhale, the Word of G*d is also the Breath of G*d. When G*d formed man from the dust of the earth, he breathed into life into his nostrils. This is the same principle as reading scripture, we are taking in the breath of The Almighty, thus giving us life: both physically and spiritually.

"then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature." - Gen 2:7

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

“Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:

“I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,

to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.” - Isaiah 42:5-7

Unlike what we may believe, this life is really not about us. It's a huge opportunity for us to rise above our own selfish egotistical human nature and to return to the perfection that we once had, before the sin in Eden and the fall of man. This is a process that cannot be achieved any other way but only through the Grace of G*d. He will give us the strength that we need in order to restore us back to how he originally created us, which was perfect in every way, perfect after his own image. This is also the purpose of The Torah (The Law) and why it is important for us to observe them.

The famous Jewish sage, Hillel the Elder, said “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And being only for myself, what am I?” Let these words sink in for a minute. If we are living only for ourselves, then what does that make us? Nothing in this life is more important than building a strong relationship with Our Creator. If we uphold his laws, we can reach a level of purity that enables him to dwell with us in this physical reality. The Torah was a gift, not a punishment. Our LORD is perfect in every way, it is our sin that separates us from him and he cannot dwell with us when we sin against him.

Since he provides us everything that we need, even when we do not merit it, we must consciously put forth daily effort to give back to him. This is another way to humble ourselves before him; not by our words, but by our actions. A daily dose of scripture nourishes our spirit and makes us whole and just a couple of verses a day will put us on the right track.

Starting is always the most difficult part, but I can tell you from my own experience, when you force yourself to take time out of your day to study scripture, before long you will develop a whole new level of excitement and passion for reading The Word. The only way to develop this passion for reading scripture is by reading scripture, and the best version of The Holy Bible for you to read is the version that you will consistently read and apply to your life.

הרבה אהבה וברכה

Much Love and Blessings!