Since the garden in Eden, God has longed for fellowship with the very people He created (Genesis 3:8). In fact, one of the great reasons God desires for people to learn to communicate with others is so they can, in turn, understand how to better communicate with Him. Communication with God takes place in two major forms. Man communicates with God through prayer. Prayer can take place simply within one’s heart or verbally but can only be accomplished when a man conveys his thoughts or concerns to the Lord. God, on the other hand, communicates with man through the scriptures. Before Eve, communication existed between a man (Adam) and his God. Even in eternity, it appears that the greatest form of communication will exist between God and the redeemed.
On the sabbath day, the Lord Jesus stood to read the scriptures. This was a common practice in New Testament times as the Jews would read the scriptures every sabbath day (Acts 13:27; Acts 15:21). Publick scripture reading was not uncommon and appears to have also been a practice of the Israelites in the Old Testament (Exodus 24:7; Deuteronomy 31:11; 2 Kings 23:2; Nehemiah 8:3). The Bible also records that publick reading was common in the early church. Unlike today, believers did not own personal copies of the scriptures. Believers learned the scripture from publick reading (1 Thessalonians 5:27; 1 Timothy 4:13). Even now, believers should make an effort to publickly read the scriptures.
