Bible, as we see it today came into existence after the invention of printing press. I checked Wikipedia and the first printing press was assembled by Gutenberg around 1440, which means the book form of the Bible (as we see it today) wasn't widely available for nearly 1500 years since the time of Jesus.
How did people live during that time? They didn't have the 'Message' version and no one 'amplified' it for them. Could it be that they lived from the LIFE of Christ in them? Could it be that they depended on the revelations God gave them through various means?
It's also interesting to see that Jesus or any Apostles never ever put a 'should' on people to 'spend time on the word' every day. None of the first century churches boasted about 'being committed to the Word'.
In the Bible itself, (John chapter 5), this words of Jesus are recorded: "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. "
Pharisees of Jesus's time were 'committed to the Word', but they missed the whole point. There is no LIFE found in Scriptures. Scriptures only point to the one who has LIFE.
And we are to eat from the tree of LIFE, not from the other tree.
