why i need it

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i like reading the Bible. 
some people might think that's weird, but i really dig it.
in fact, i would sit around and read it all the time if i had that much time. that's how much i like it. (but for the record, people who sit around and read the Bible all the time tend to not really follow what it says, so... maybe i wouldn't want to.)

but beyond just enjoying it for being great literature, i love to read it because it DOES SOMETHING IN ME. it changes me from the inside and the way i live. it changes the kind of choices i make. it changes the way i think about what's good. and what's not so good. 

for example, i think we (our culture) tends to depend on our own nature/our own sense of GOOD to tell us what is good. & i do think there's some merit to that. i think there's a sense of what is good and what's not deep down inside of us, BUT it's not foolproof. we get it wrong sometimes.
so, i can't just depend on my own nature to tell me what's good & what's not. or as a follower of Jesus i can't just assume that the things i think are good are the same things that God thinks are good. i count on the Bible to tell me that kind of thing.
For example, in our culture we would never know that God hates coveting. Because to us coveting is good thing. In fact, coveting makes the world go round. It's the engine of capitalism. capitalism exists because it capitalizes on our covetous nature and boom - you have the U.S. system of economy. (my apologies to Adam Smith for that extremely crude summary of his intricate work.)

and there are all kinds of things my own nature tells me is good... but in fact, from God's viewpoint - it's not so good. and when i discover that in the Bible i work tirelessly to change.
that's why i dig it & why i need it. 


(side note - above i wasn't commenting about the inherent good or bad of the economic system of capitalism. i'm not saying it's bad. although, for many Western Christians it is VERY VERY bad because it has become an idol for probably the majority of Western Christians. In fact, beyond an idol and inseparable from their version of Christianity - much like being Republican, democracy, etc... but i digress. another rant for another day.)