Why Read The Bible?

[MajestyJo]

Saw this earlier and meant to post and didn't get to it. The thought that came to mind was, "Why not read the Bible?"

You have time for other things, why not the Bible?"

When I was new in recovery, I had a very big, big resentment against the church, religion, and yet when I got to AA, they said it was a spiritual program and that I had to find a God of my understanding. The only God of my understanding was the only I had learned in my childhood growing up in the church my grandfather had built.

It was a country church, very simple and as I later came to realize, one very close to God and nothing got between you and the Lord, unless you let it. I let it, I left the country for the big city and along the way, I kept picking things up to make me feel better, and every time I did, I lost a piece of me instead of going within and connecting with my God. I was very fragmented and when I came into recovery, I started reading my Bible. It was the only thing I knew. I would say a little prayer at night, open the Bible and read the page that opened and would right down the words that spoke to me.

I was later given the Bible Serenity which cross referenced the AA 12 Steps with the Bible, and all but two of my Bible meditations for my first year of recovery referenced a Step. I had been working and living the 12 Steps, and hadn't even realized it.

I could stop drinking but couldn't stay stopped until I found the spiritual solution to the disease of addiction. Religion was not enough. I was raised on religion. It was that spirituality that enhanced my religious beliefs that made the difference for me.

Thanks for letting me share.