The Pastor and His Bible

The pastor of a local church is also the worship leader of the church. While there may be someone else leading in songs, the ultimate leader of the congregation’s worship is the pastor or pastors of the church.

In today’s post, I want to talk about why the pastor must be a daily Bible reader. Ultimately, it is for two primary reasons. First, the pastor needs to know God himself. Secondly, the pastor must lead his people out of the overflow of his own worship of God. His preaching, praying, and teaching must come out of a well that has been deeply dug through personal time in The Scriptures. 

There are so many places we can go to be reminded of the value of God’s Word, but we will visit Psalm 19:7-9 for a moment. There David shows us that the Scriptures are:

• Perfect ― The Bible is whole, complete, it is not lacking- it can “revive” the soul and transform the person.
• Sure ― The Bible is trustworthy. Convincing. The Spirit uses it to take a simple undiscerning mind and make it skilled in all issues of a godly life.
• Right ― The Bible points to the one way. The narrow road.  It points us to Christ who is the only source of eternal joy.
• Pure ― The Bible is clear.  God gave us a clear and understandable Word so that our eyes might be enlightened through the power of the Holy Spirit. 
• Clean ― Undefiled.  Inerrant, infallible, does not pass away.
• True ― It is this Book that is the standard for judging the life and eternal destiny of every person. The Word is reliable.  It gives us the very will of God for our lives!

David goes on to say that the Scriptures are more valuable to us than gold and sweeter to the taste than honey. Oh what a treasure the Scriptures are to us!

David only had access to a certain portion of God’s Word. We have more. David could not carry around all of God’s Word he had access to. We carry around the full canon of Scripture in our pockets. 

Through the ages, God’s people have had minimal access to God’s Word compared to today. We read the Bible in our own language. We can access all 66 books of the Bible in multiple translations. We can read. We have the time and ability to search the Scriptures.

What a great grace God has given to us today!

A pastor should be in his Bible every day. And this does not count sermon preparation. This is personal time in the Bible outside of texts one is studying for teaching and preaching. 

This is not an extra burden, but a delight. There is great reward in seeking God.

But the rejoinder comes from some: “The Bible never commands us to read it every day!” Well, in one sense, that’s true. There is no explicit command to read the Bible every day. Neither is there an explicit command for a husband to listen to his wife every day. But what would you do with a pastor who says he is too busy with ministry to converse with his wife every day? Hopefully, you would confront him!

Just as husbands are commanded to love their wives, every person is commanded to love God. The pastor must demonstrate what this looks like to his people with daily Bible reading. There is obviously much more to demonstrate, but without this discipline, we are communicating that God’s Word is merely optional.

Pastor, if you’re not reading your Bible every day, repent and ask our gracious God to realign your priorities. The sheep must be fed by a well-fed pastor!

ALLEN S. NELSON IV
1689 Federalism | Amillennialism
Allen S. Nelson IV is the pastor of Providence Baptist Church in Perryville, AR, where he resides with his wife Stephanie, and their 6 children. Allen is the author of From Death to Life: How Salvation Works, Before the Throne: Reflections on God’s Holiness, and A Change of Heart: Understanding Regeneration and Why it Matters. He is an M.Div graduate of Grace BIble Theological Seminary in Conway, AR and co-host of The Rural Church Podcast 2.0 on the Reformation Podcast Network.