The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will endure forever. (Isaiah 40:8).
The Bible, the word of God, is unlike any other book! It is the most incredible literary masterpiece of all time. Its scope is unrivalled detailing the greatest good, the greatest evil, the greatest courage and sacrifice, and indeed the ultimate sacrifice - the Saviour of all mankind! Its depth is un-equalled exploring the greatest mysteries of life, the deepest depravities and longings of the heart of mankind, the nature of God and the universe and revealing to us truth. There is only one Book on earth, only one Book in the history of mankind that can ever answer all the fundamental questions of life. There is only one Book that holds the key to our eternal destiny: the ultimate love story, written in blood on a wooden cross.
If that wasn't already enough, only the Bible has the audacity to lay claim to being alive, God breathed (2 Timothy 3:16), perfect, (Psalm 19:7) and having the power to transform lives. The power of God’s word will:
-build you up (Acts 20:32)
-teach, reproof, correct, train in righteousness, and equip for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
-is living and powerful able to pierce to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12)
-renew your mind (Romans 12:2)
-bring joy and delight to the heart (Jeremiah 15:16)
-be a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Psalm 119:105).
-revive the soul, making wise the simple, rejoicing the heart and enlightening the eyes (Psalm 19:7-8); just to mention a few….
We live in a society that has strived hard to remove and erode God’s word from any public context in the name of tolerance, equality and discrimination whilst at the same time watching in horror at the rise in lawlessness that abounds. Its a bit like removing traffic signals that govern our transportation then complaining about the chaos that ensues. Even in many churches the Word of God has ceased to hold the place of honour and prominence that it once had. Seeker friendly emotional based preaching has replaced the proclamation of the eternal life changing truths of scripture. Increasingly everybody seems to have an opinion and know what they feel about everything but fewer seem to know what God’s word actually says. At times we can get caught reading all about God’s word but never actually reading, studying and meditating upon God’s word itself.
Each year over 1 million new books will be published and read, each day over 2 million blogs posts will be perused, and each hour over 200 million emails will be opened. In the midst of this age of information overload how much time do we spend reading the only book that truly has the power transform our lives, God’s word the Bible? There’s no time like the present to remind ourselves of the radical and bold claims of God’s word, remembering this incredible gift that we have in our possession, and renew our passion for the un-rivalled, and un-equalled, living word of God!
Andrew