Often at the beginning of a new year believers make a resolution to read the Bible more than they did the year before, perhaps by reading through the entire Bible once in a year.  This is certainly a good resolution to make!  What I want to address in this blog is why reading the Bible is indeed so important.  I addressed this topic partly in a previous blog called “Why the Bible Must Receive at Least the Same Interpretive Respect as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”  Nevertheless, given that it is the beginning of 2011, and the plethora of Bible reading plans mentioned in the blogosphere recently, it seems important to consider afresh precisely why Bible reading is important. [...]

Picture someone walking into their favorite local bookstore and going to their favorite section.  Perhaps he went into the fiction section of the store and picked up one of the Harry Potter books.  This person picks up the last book of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, turns to p. 458, and reads the following:

“‘Well, Draco?’ said Lucius Malfoy.”   This is the first time this person has even glanced at the words within this book, ever.  Nevertheless, immediately after he finished reading these words he looks down the aisle at another person standing a few feet away examining some other fictional book and says, “I know what this line means.” [...]