Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Why Reading Your Bible is So Important | Historical Books | 2 Samuel 6:1-11

Episode Date: June 10, 2025

Are you consistently getting in God's Word? Is there a problem with Bible apps? What's one step you can take toward experiencing God? In today's episode, Tanya shares how 2 Samuel 6:1-11 encourages us to ground our lives in Scripture. If you're listening on Spotify, tell us about yourself and where you're listening from! Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 2 Samuel 6:1-11

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmeth. A couple of years ago, our neighbors were doing a controlled burn, and it started off just like they planned. It was small, manageable, seemingly under control. But pretty soon, things shifted. I think the wind picked up, and before long, the fire had gotten out of control. And what started as a routine burn turned into a pretty near disaster when it started encouraging

on our neighbor's property. So then five or six trucks, fire trucks were on the scene. I think it was pretty embarrassing to have all these people out fighting this fire, but they were trying to contain the flames before they spread into the neighbor's pasture. So it's not that fire is bad, but fire is powerful. Fire demands our attention. It demands our respect. When it's handled with care, it can be useful, even good. But when we get casual with it or when things, that we can't control come into the picture like wind, it can turn destructive really fast. That's a picture of what's happening in 2nd Samuel 6. Before there was a temple, there was an ark. The ark. A physical symbol of God's presence among

his people. And for a while, the ark had been out of sight. It was tucked away on the outskirts after a pretty messy history with the Philistines. See, the Philistines had captured it in battle, they quickly realized it brought more harm than good, and they returned it in fear. And it's not because God causes more harm than good. It's because they didn't understand God's holiness. They treated the Ark like a spiritual object. They didn't fully understand who God was. They only knew enough to be afraid of it. So now, David is determined to bring the Ark back to Jerusalem. David wants the presence of God in the heart of his city. It's like a new political and spiritual center. But even as he moves with good intentions, something goes wrong. Uza is part of the group helping bring the ark back. But instead of

carrying it as they were instructed in Deuteronomy on poles, they loaded onto a cart. And when the oxen stumble, Uza reaches out to steady it with his hand, and then in a moment that feels quite shocking to us, God strikes him down and he dies. This is what it sounds like. It says in 2nd Samuel 6, 5 through 7, And David and all the house of Israel was celebrating before the Lord. And when they came to the threshing floor of Nekon, Uza put on his hand to the ark of God,

and God struck him down there because of his air. This feels uncomfortable, right? We don't always know what to do with this kind of story. David didn't either. He was angry. He was afraid. And he left the ark in the home of Obed Edom for three. three months. But something important happens there. It says the Lord blessed Obed Edom and all his household.

And David notices, and Psalm 132 reflects this realization where the ark rest blessing follows, where God's dwelling place is, where God's presence is, there is joy, abundance, and security. So what about us? How do we experience the presence of God today? How do we experience the presence of God today? How do we come to him in reverence in order to have a relationship? How do we seek God in the way that he has intended? Well, when I think about the people I know who are growing in holiness and living with real joy and with real depth, I notice a pattern. They are consistently experiencing God in Scripture. They are consistently in their Bibles, not perfectly, not legalistically.

but consistently. And here's what they tend to have in common. Number one. People who are consistently in the word, don't go it alone. They read the Bible and community. They have people they talk to about what they're reading. Much like exercise,

it's easier to stick with someone when someone else is expecting you there. And because we're creative for community, those shared experiences tend to take deeper root in our hearts. Hebrews 10 says, Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

People who stay in their Bibles consistently know this. It's easier to grow when you're not doing it in isolation. God designed us to need each other, even in our time with him. The second thing I notice about people who are consistently in the word is that they own and have or keep a physical Bible. Bible apps are great, but a paper Bible slows you down. You can underline, you can write in the margins, you can look back later at what God was teaching you in a particular season. There's just something different about opening up your Bible without the distraction, without, the notifications and the pop-ups and the Instagram. Psalm 119 says, Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. When you hold a physical Bible in your

hands, it reminds you that God's Word isn't just information. It's direction, it's words on a page that light up your life. And sometimes we just need to sit with that light a little bit longer than normal, longer than what we have on our phones, so that we have enough time to actually see where God's leading us and hear what he's trying to tell us. The third thing that these consistent Bible readers seem to have in common is that they don't bite off more than they can chew. Now, reading through the Bible in a year is a really good goal, but it's not the only goal. And honestly, it doesn't work for most of us. People who stick with it usually start one book or even just a few verses, and they read slowly. They come

back to it. They let it sink in. The goal isn't speed. It's just consistency and it's slow growth, right? And here's the good news. We're not doing it by ourselves. John 1426 says, But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. The Holy Spirit is the true hard worker here in this Bible reading plan.

Now, even when we take in just a little, the Holy Spirit is faithful to help us understand and to bring those words. back when we need them the most. The last thing I noticed about people who are just consistent Bible readers is that they write stuff down. So whether it's a journal, a notebook, their margins of their Bible, they keep track of what God is teaching them. They pay attention to answered prayer.

They look for changes and their reactions. And like the Israelites who were instructed to set up stones to remember God's work, these people find ways to mark what he's doing in their lives. 2 Timothy 316 says all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. When we're consistently in the word, God uses it to teach us, correct us, and shape us. And writing those moments down helps us recognize how he's actively doing that over time. It turns scripture from something we read into something that we remember,

something that we live by. So the point about being a consistent Bible reader is not that you can say, hey, I'm a consistent Bible reader, I read through the Bible in a year. It's about being in God's presence. It's about experiencing the presence of God. So where in your life are you tempted to treat something holy, casually, like your time with God? And what's one step that you could take this week to move closer to God's presence through His Word? we worship a holy God. See, but through Jesus, we've been given access. Because of Jesus' sacrifice, we're invited to draw near with confidence, not carelessly, but confidently. So the more we spend time in His Word, the more we come to understand and love and appreciate God's holiness,

the more we understand His holiness, the more we realize how deeply we need is grace. We're going to face hard things. We're going to mess up. We're going to feel overwhelmed. But when we're grounded in God's word, we're reminded of what's true. The Holy Spirit brings scripture to mind when we need it and helps us keep our eyes on Jesus. What's in with this from Hebrews 10? Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for He who promised is faithful. Amen.