Many saints have read in spiritual books that we have been crucified and resurrected with Christ. Some books teach that we need to reckon ourselves crucified and resurrected. After we learn this doctrine, we may begin to practice this. However, we will soon discover that this does not work. Reckoning does not work, because we do not receive the killing word or the resurrecting word by reckoning. Actually, we do not need to learn the doctrine of reckoning ourselves crucified and resurrected. As long as we spend time in the Word, the word of the cross will crucify us and the word of life will resurrect us, regardless of whether or not we know this doctrine. Regardless of whether or not children know that there are certain nourishing elements in their food, they will receive the benefits as long as they eat the food. Likewise, when we come to the Bible and receive the word of God, we will be nourished, refreshed, watered, washed, killed, and resurrected.
In order to receive all these benefits from the Word, we need to spend time in the Bible several times a day. Besides spending time in the Word in the morning, we can carry a small version of the New Testament and read a few verses or pray-read a verse from time to time. This is a good habit. This is the way for us to be crucified and resurrected. When we arrive at work, we may see a co-worker doing something wrong and become angry with him. However, if we read the Bible and pray-read a verse on the way to our job, we will not become angry with anyone; our old man will have been killed, and we will have been resurrected. Thus, we will arrive at work in resurrection. When we go home in the evening, we may become angry with our spouse. However, if we simply read the Word on the way home, we will not become angry, because our old man will have been crucified on the way. We will be a new man in resurrection. We do not need to reckon ourselves crucified; we need to be crucified. Neither do we need to reckon ourselves resurrected; we need to be resurrected. We can be crucified by the word of the cross and resurrected by the word of life.
The Bible is not constituted mainly with many teachings; rather, it is constituted with Christ, His death, and His resurrection. For this reason, we all need to spend time in the Bible to take the word into us and, if possible, to store the word within us. Colossians 3:16a says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” The word dwell here means “to be in a house, to indwell, to inhabit.” We should not consider that the words of the Bible are like the words in ordinary books. The Bible is God’s breathing. It is our spiritual food, water, and air. It brings to us Christ as our life supply with His death and resurrection. All the spiritual riches are in the Word. If we do not read the Bible, we will be void of nourishment, refreshment, cleansing, Christ as our life supply, His death, and His resurrection. However, if we spend time in the Word day by day, the Word will convey all these riches into our being. Christianity teaches that we need to read the Bible merely to acquire knowledge. There is knowledge in the Bible, but the Word of God also contains God’s breathing, cleansing, nourishing, the life supply of Christ, the killing of the word of the cross, and the resurrecting of the word of life. We need to come to the Word daily to receive all these benefits. In order to experience Christ, the fresh, instant killing of His death, and the fresh, instant resurrecting of His resurrection, we need to spend time in the Word every day.
Spending time in the Word is a life matter, but we need to do it legally so that we will not miss all the benefits it brings. We Christians should never be without the Word. We need to either carry a small Bible in our pocket or purse or memorize many verses. The Word of God is our real riches. It contains the elements we need in order to grow. We cannot grow by ourselves; we grow by the elements in the Word. By now we should see the importance of spending time in the Word daily. For over fifty years I have spent time in the Word every day. I will never regret this but rather will always be grateful to the Lord. He has preserved me for my entire Christian life mainly through the Bible. This dear book is precious to me; it has not left me for one day. The Bible has kept me from many distractions.