Reading God's Word

I've been reading the Bible more than usual lately. It's a funny yet noteworthy thing because I never used to read it on a regular basis. In fact, I mentioned this in an earlier post, but the only Bible reading i used to do was during Bible studies at fellowship \ small group or when the pastor read the passage for a sermon on Sundays. It was nearly always taken out of context and I never really made time myself to pray for the Holy Spirit in me to help me digest, understand and apply the Word to my life. I never used to study the Word -- i didn't see any benefit in doing so.

Somewhere along the way, I started to make time to read the Bible. I took on this challenge (something like 3 years ago now... ) to read it cover to cover. Now that I do read on a regular basis, I find myself thirsting for more. I pray for a softened heart to read Scripture and to be open-minded to what the Holy Spirit is teaching me through the Scripture. I was reminded through my BSF classes that sometimes reading the Bible challenges you to change your previous way of thinking because through the studying and reading of God's Word, you are presented with the Truth. Am I willing to be humble enough to leave behind the Lies that I believed in for so long in exchange for God's Truth? How might this start to drastically change my life?

In hindsight, maybe a large part of my lack of not just understanding God's Word but having it come alive within me has been because I have always been feeding off someone else's regurgitation of God's Word. I mean this quite literally. Someone else had read God's Word, digested it according to the Holy Spirit working in them and then I was feeding off of that. Why would I do this when I have access to the Word directly and the Holy Spirit within me to reveal it to me in a personal and applicable way?