Redeeming the Time: Scripture in Our Everyday Life

As we step into 2026, there's no more important question to ask ourselves than this: What does the Word of God actually mean to me in my everyday life? While many Christians affirm that the Bible is God's Word, our daily actions often tell a different story. This disconnect between belief and practice reveals a critical need to understand how Scripture should function in every aspect of our lives.

What Does It Really Mean to Believe the Bible is God's Word?

If you truly believe that the Bible is the Word of God preserved by God for you, wouldn't it be the most valuable, esteemed, treasured and well-used possession in your life? Wouldn't you love the moments when you could sit with it and carefully study its content? Wouldn't you commit yourself to be an avid reader and lifelong student of God's Word?

The reality is that many Christians don't spend daily time in their Bibles. Most have a low level of biblical literacy and lack clear theological understanding. Many have voices of influence in their lives that are far more functional and authoritative than Scripture. This explains why God's Word doesn't influence our sense of identity, decision-making, relationships, parenting, finances, or how we handle success and failure.

The Priority of God's Word in Daily Life

The Word of God must have utmost priority in our lives. It must be the first source we go to for everything and every day. This isn't a suggestion—we must make it the first part of our day. Whatever you're doing or haven't done, there's no condemnation here, but start 2026 by getting into the Word of God daily.

Have your Bible open on your kitchen table, coffee table, or nightstand. When you get up in the morning, grab your cup of coffee and get to the Bible. Read God's Word and make it your number one priority.

How God's Word Functions in Our Lives

1. God's Word Saves

The Apostle Paul tells Timothy that "from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." Without the Bible, there would be no narrative of redemption, no clear message, no knowledge of God's attributes and plan, no knowledge of sin, and no knowledge of God's offer of forgiveness.

No other tool is more central to God's work of redemptive rescue than the Word of God empowered by the Spirit of God. Without the Bible, we would be hopelessly lost without God and without hope in a terribly fallen world.

Beyond Initial Salvation

God's work of salvation doesn't stop at conversion. He continues working in your life, exposing remaining sin, convicting you of what is wrong, and enabling you by grace to live in brand new ways. The Word of God is essential not only for justifying grace (initial salvation) but for sanctifying grace (progressive growth in holiness).

If you're serious about growing in grace—as a single person, student, professional, parent, spouse, or church member—then you should be committed to regular study of God's Word. If you struggle with secret sins, anger, marriage conflict, fear, or discouragement, you need to run to God's Word for help and instruction.

2. God's Word Points Us to God and His Glory

Second Corinthians 5:15 contains a powerful truth: "He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves." The DNA of sin is selfishness and autonomy. Sin puts us at the center of our world and makes life all about us. Sin turns every human being into a glory thief, taking for ourselves what belongs to God alone.

One of the most important functions of God's Word is confronting us with another story—one where we are not center stage. In this biblical story, we are given life and breath to serve the purposes of another and for the glory of another. The biblical story starts with God at the center.

The Daily Glory War

As long as sin still lives inside us, there will always be a glory war in our hearts. Every day we need to see again that the life we've been welcomed to has God at the center, not us. Every day we need a message that points to God.

Contrary to modern messages preached today, life is not about comfort, success, or our plans. It's not about how many people look up to us or the size of our houses. Life is about God, His glory, and the success of His purposes in and through us. The Bible points us to this truth from cover to cover—it's a hymnbook all about Him, not about you.

The Destructive Nature of Self-Glory

Self-glory will make you easily irritated, critical, and judgmental. It will turn your marriage into a war of who gets what first. Self-glory will make you an exhausting, entitled friend and keep you from being satisfied. It will cause you to take credit for what you never earned and make you threatened by others' success.

Self-glory deceives, distracts, and entraps us. It ultimately destroys us, leaving behind a mountain of broken people and things without producing good fruit. This is why we need God's Word pointing us daily to a glory greater than ours—the only glory that will ever satisfy our hearts.

3. God's Word Teaches

God's Word teaches us in ways like nothing else. It doesn't just impart knowledge but forms wisdom in you. It reveals the deepest and most profound truths and spiritual mysteries that could ever be considered. Like a good teacher, God's Word undoes you and then rebuilds you again.

You cannot sit under the teaching of God's Word with an open and willing heart and remain the same. In teaching you, it recreates you into the likeness of the One who made you. The Bible has been humanity's greatest professor by far.

The Psalmist's Love for God's Word

Psalm 119:97-105 beautifully expresses the teaching power of Scripture: "Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies... I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation... Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

Can you say this psalm is true of your life? Do you love God's law? Is His Word your meditation all day?

Making Time vs. Having Time

Too often we make excuses, saying we don't have time for God's Word, prayer, or church. You have to make time. If you're waiting for everything to materialize perfectly for you to get into God's Word, it's not going to happen. You have to commit your heart and depend upon the Holy Spirit's power and God's grace to help you do it.

When you put other things in priority above God's Word, there will be consequences—personal consequences and consequences for your family. Your children and grandchildren are watching. When they see your Bible laid out and witness you in God's presence, those moments will impact their lives forever.

The Ongoing Need for Biblical Teaching

We all have artifacts of old and unbiblical ways of thinking still hanging around in our minds. We all have gaps in our theological understanding and need deeper, more practical understanding of God's plans and purposes. None of us know everything about the Bible, and if you think you've mastered this book, it probably means it hasn't mastered you.

Has biblical literacy changed how you approach friendships, parenting, marriage, and money? Has theological understanding caused you to live with greater hope, courage, love, and joy? Is your biblical knowledge producing practical, agenda-setting wisdom in your everyday life?

Life Application

The challenge for this week is simple but profound: Make God's Word the first priority of every day. Before checking your phone, before coffee, before anything else—open your Bible and spend time with God. Start with just 15 minutes if needed, but be consistent.

Ask yourself these questions as you begin this journey:

• Do I truly treat the Bible as the most valuable possession in my life?
• Am I living for God's glory or my own?
• What areas of my life need to be brought under the teaching of God's Word?
• How can I demonstrate to my family that God's Word is my highest priority?

Remember, God's Word saves you, points you to His glory instead of your own, and teaches you wisdom for living. These three functions alone should revolutionize how you approach every day. The question isn't whether you have time for God's Word—the question is whether you'll make time for the most important relationship and resource in your life.