“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16 ESV).
Why is it important to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…”? To answer that question, it helps to know a little about what the Bible claims for itself.
For instance, the New Testament book of 2 Timothy tells us that all Scripture is inspired by God (see 2 Timothy 3:16). Furthermore, we’re told that the Bible’s human authors spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21). In other words, God “carried along” the Biblical writers so they went exactly where He wanted them to go, much like the wind carries a sailboat across the surface of the water.
We also have Jesus’ word on this subject as well. For example, Jesus taught that the Scriptures were the command of God (Matthew 15:3-4), contained no mistakes (Luke 16:17), were reliable (Matthew 26:54), and could not be broken (John 10:35). He also promised that the Holy Spirit would guide His disciples into all truth and remind them of the things He said and did (John 14:26, 15:26-27). This explains why Paul the Apostle (1 Corinthians 14:37) and the Apostle Peter (speaking of Paul in 2 Peter 3:15-16) each referred to the God-inspired nature of their Biblical letters.
Because of this, a person who reads the Scriptures has an opportunity to receive God’s counsel whenever he or she opens the pages of His Word. But spending time in the Scriptures is important for another reason. You see, a person who is unfamiliar with God’s Word may be susceptible to various forms of deception. That deception might take the form of a spiritual belief that seems reasonable on the surface but may be opposed to genuine spiritual truth.
He or she might also be vulnerable to “spiritual leaders” who speak convincingly but actually seek to take advantage of those who don’t know any better. Others may fail to achieve their full potential because they don’t know what the Bible says about handling the problems and difficulties of life when they emerge.
We can avoid many of these issues simply by making a prayerful commitment to spend time reading the Scriptures every day. As Psalm 119:105 tells us, “Your word is like a lamp that guides my steps, a light that shows the path I should take” (ERV).