It is naïve to think that by simply reading the Bible we will be kept from making poor decisions.
First, my own heart and mind influence my reading and understanding of Scripture (and Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that our hearts are very deceitful and wicked). The Bible is not an easy book to understand; it requires thinking and meditation.
Second, we find it easy to read and talk about Scripture, but it’s much harder to put what we’re learning into practice. As a result of our sinful nature (see Romans 8:1–39) we don’t always want to do what God expects from us. Even if we know what God wants, that is not always what we end up doing (see Romans 7:1–25).
Third, there are so many people around us today who have a Bible in their hand, who claim to love Jesus, and yet they are leading God’s people astray. The New Testament is full of warnings about false teachers who lead people astray (see Matthew 7:15–17; Romans 16:17–18; Galatians 1:7–8; 2 Timothy 4:3–4 ; 2 John 1:10–11).
1 As soon as all the kings who were beyond the Jordan in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard of this,