The Bible
With all Christian disciplines on the decline it would seem God's word is growing less and less relevant. Actually quite the opposite is true. Having a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path becomes all the more crucial in deepening darkness. In this information age, we would do well to avail ourselves of the tremendous wealth of resources we literally have at our fingertips.
To Whom Much is Given
It's easy for those of us with much to take for granted what we've been given. Technology not only provides us with a million effortless miracles. Many are automatic, others require no more than the flick of a switch, turn of a key or click of a mouse! Truth is, we have so much that as a race our capabilities rival those of the mythical gods.
Well, not all of us. There's a great gulf between those fortunate enough to live in First rather than Third World Nations. We in the West are doubly blessed having for centuries enjoyed a Judeo-Christian heritage.
This is great news in many ways and less so in others. On the one hand, it's as if we've received the answers to the prayers of all the generations before us! Just think how wonderful a modern grocery store's 45,000 clean and pristine products would seem to more than half the world today, not to mention billions of those who came before. On the other hand, a passage from one of Christ's most haunting warnings should be echoing through the minds of our generation:
"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." Luke 12:48
Clearly those of us who've been entrusted with so much will have more to answer for. This being the case, it behooves us to invest one the greatest gifts we have, free time, wisely. Studying God's word is an excellent place to start:
"Study to shew yourself approved to God, a workman that doesn't need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15
"There's nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us." 2 Timothy 3:15-17 The Message
Worth the Effort
What an awesome privilege to have the Bible to study. Considering the teaming throngs who live and die today, and have gone before, never having the scriptures to read. How lost we'd be without God's word to light our way. How dreadful to stand before God and Christ in the judgement and be forced to admit in front of billions of saints and holy angels we let the Book of Books gather dust on the shelf.
Why would we do such an unthinkable thing? How can we neglect such an unspeakable gift? Simple. It's too much trouble. With over 30,000 verses containing over 750,000 words the Bible's no easy read. First there's this fantastic creation story to deal and weird genealogies were folks like almost a thousand years. Then you've got an angry God's wiping people out and demanding all kind of things. Later there's heros and villains. priest and prophets all going at it. And that's just the Old Testament...
It's true the Bible's can be tough to understand on many levels. It's a explanation as to why so few try. It not however a valid excuse. While many things in life are easy some of the most important require genuine effort. In the end the question of difficulty boils down to one simple question. Is it worth it?
You better believe it is. The hopes and fears of all mankind are fit between the Bible's pages. Reward and punishment, in time and eternity, result from scripture's neglect.
Difficult, not Hard
While the Bible stands alone in many ways, any book of it's caliber of length and breadth
would be a challenging read. Even so, given it's Author and purpose, the scriptures are relatively straight forward. Theology may be complex but the heart of the message of the Gospel isn't complicated. Using the time tested 7 Rules of Biblical Interpretation along with the very ipmortant 8th Rule of Emphasis, one needn't be a Hebrew or Greek scholar to understand it's vital message. In fact, for simplicity sake all the Bible's 6,400 commands can be nicely reduced to two. Love God fervently and your neighbor as yourself.
Those who can remember the two great commandments have enough to get started on the journey of living faith. They need only turn theory into practice and they're already on the path to knowing and pleasing God. To the degree we act on the light we have, and invest time educating ourselves through honest and diligent Bible study, God can be counted on to provide direction.
A simple math equation sums it up nicely. Several amazing events marked the occasion of Solomon's dedication of the first Earthly temple to Yahweh. A week long celebration saw the largest Biblically recorded sacrifice in history to which God showed His acceptance by sending fire from Heaven. Later His glory would so fill the new temple that none could stand to enter. After a short prayer by King Solomon, the Creator of the multiverse uttered a few words of His own, one sentence of which has come down to us through millennia as God's Four Spiritual Laws:
"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sins and heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14
Can you do the math? A+B+C+D=EFG!
This verse is one of the most beloved of scripture. We quote it. We teach it. We sing about it. But do we do it? Do we take God up on His offer? How few these days humble themselves enough to even pray. Fewer stick with it in the face of the silence and distance of God. Fewer still care enough to seek His face by studying the scripture to understand His directives and promises. Only such students can hope to continue the course and turn from there wicked ways that God might hear, forgive and heal.
It's not unreasonable to say that comprehending 2 Chronicles 7:14 is foundational to obtaining the Lord's favor in this life and eternity. If such treasure can be mined from a single scripture, shouldn't we be anxious to find what more the Bible has in store...
More Resources
In the Sidebar Menu you'll find resources that we hope will both stimulate and facilitate your pursuit of and understanding of the God of the Bible. To get started simply place your cursor on a category of interest and see where it leads. You can also join the discussion in a variety of ways including posting comments to God Blogs as well as making comments or asking questions by email of phone.