Live in the Bible: Some Thoughts on the Coronavirus

It is sad to say, but we Christians all too often neglect the Word of God. We in the west live in a fast-paced culture. We get too busy at times. We can tend to handle what is most urgent and neglect carving out time to practice those slow and steady spiritual disciplines that are vital for our health in the Christian life.

I’ve encountered many Christians who aren’t engaging in the regular reading of the Bible. I am also encountering many who are beginning to feel worry over the events going on around the world and in our country right now—namely, the Coronavirus. I think this virus strikes fear and worry because it exposes what we’ve fooled ourselves into thinking we have, but we’ve never had—control. 

God is in control. Knowing that he is also good provides great comfort. Knowing what he has done for us in Christ gives us overwhelming comfort. In this time, we need to remember these things because we all desperately want comfort. To remember these things, we need to be living in the Word of God. Charles Spurgeon famously said, “Visit many good books, but live in the Bible.” We need to make our home in the Bible. 

I don’t know who originally said it, but I’ve often heard the quote, “We need to preach the gospel to ourselves 1,000 times a day in 1,000 different ways.” We need to be a people who are reading the Bible, praying the Bible, singing the Bible, and sharing it with others and one another. We need to be talking to God ourselves and reminding one another of his goodness. The Bible is literally God speaking to us and we will find comfort in the words of our Father.

Recently, I read Praying the Bible by Don Whitney. In it, he argues that we often tire of prayer because we build routines and find ourselves praying the same old things about the same old things. He shows in the book how to use Scripture to pray about the same things in a new way, which helps us focus and speak with God more conversationally using his Word. This has really helped my prayer life and I’d really recommend it to you in this time and for all time. It’s a short read that may take you about an hour to an hour and a half. Pick it up here on Amazon*. 

A couple of days ago, I found myself in Psalm 62:

“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
For my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
My fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
My mighty rock, my refuge is God.”

- Psalm 62:5-7

Live in the Word of God. Fix your sights on him. He is our rock and salvation. He is our refuge. Don’t worry. Don’t fear. Praise the Lord. I want to leave you with brand new song from Getty Music that also has been great for helping me fix my eyes on the Lord and lift my spirits. It’s called Christ Our Hope in Life and Death. I think it was written and released in the perfect time.

*This is an affiliate link.