By Mike Caton

Exodus 24:7, “Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, ‘We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey.’”

Why did Moses read the Book of the Covenant to the people? There are a couple of obvious answers. One, there was probably only one copy of the book, the one Moses himself had been writing. There were no bookstores or copy machines in those days. Another is that in all likelihood, most of those folks couldn’t read it for themselves. Remember, they have been slaves for 400 years, education was probably not high on their list of priorities. And some have suggested Moses invented the alphabet for the written Hebrew language, so maybe no one could read it except Moses.

But the biggest thing to remember is that these people could not commit to a covenant they knew little about, that they had never heard. Moses, and God, want the people to know what they are getting themselves into, what they are committing to. And the only way to do that is to read the book – or for the book to be read – to them. Honesty, this is such a simple concept but it is far too often overlooked today. It is amazing how little professing Christians actually know about the Bible. And it is profoundly sad. How do we expect to live by the word of God if we do not know what the word of God says? And so often what people think the Bible says, is not really what the Bible says, what they think is in there is really not in there.

We have become too lazy, we simply accept what most anyone says about the Bible. We get “Biblical information” from every source but the Bible. We listen to preachers, teachers, read books, hear politicians, look on social media, hear what our friends say, our parents, our neighbors, we get so much information from wherever. But what we really need to do is simply go to the Bible itself. We have often been challenged and told to read the Bible, and there are thousands of plans for that. And there is really no time limit to how fast you should read the Bible, but you need to plan on getting it done. But every single time you read the Bible, you will discover things you never noticed or thought about before. The word of God does not change, but you and I do. And the more we learn, the more we realize we need to learn, and that knowledge can build upon itself.

Father, help me read and study your word. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Mike Caton is the preacher at Mount Olive Church of Christ in Belhaven. He volunteers at the Ponzer Fire Department and works as a full time AEMT with Hyde County EMS. If you would like to receive daily devotions in your inbox, email mikecaton@centurylink.net.

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