Even as I pose the question, I have to stop...
What is my answer?........................ What IS my answer?.................................. What is YOUR answer?...
Now, I know you are waiting for my answer...aren't you? The Bible was God's gift to us; a kind of glimpse into the heart of God. But, are we really valuing it as such?
See, what I think has happened is, whether we want to admit it or not, we have lost value in the Bible. Oh yes, we all agree (if we are faith believing Christians) that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. It is our roadmap to a better life. It is the secret passageway into meeting Jesus firsthand, so to speak. But are we really treating it as that?
Imagine with me a moment. You are in your grandmother's house. She passed away several years ago and now it is time finally let go and clean things out so the house can be sold. As you climb the attic stairs, you are taken back.
The rocking chair that sat by the fireplace is now coverd with dust. You see the heart you etched in it as you sat on her lap hearing stories of how her mother survived the Great Depression. As you find your way to the back of the attic, you uncover a box of quilts. The one on top just happens to be the one she made when teaching you how to hand sew for the first time. You instantly know which square is yours, it looks nothing like the even stiches of her maticulous work.
Placing the box of quilts to the side, you accidentally knock over another box. As earrings roll across the floor, you realize it was the handmade jewelry box your grandfather made for her before he left to fight in the war. She kept the pearls she wore on her wedding day in that box. They were her prized possession. You are reminded of the first day she let you put them on while playing dress up. You could see the love and respect she had for your grandfather glistening in her eyes.
As you pick up the last earring off the floor, you see a book laying on the floor. It has a simple leather cover, nothing fancy, but you open the cover only to find the words, "To my beautiful wife," written inside. THIS WAS IT! This was the journal your mother had told you about. This was the journal your grandfather had written in while away at war. It was his pledge of love to your grandmother. Your mother had told you all about it. She had told you of the wonderful things her mother had told her about what was written inside.....
What do you do? Do you lay it to the side? Do you pick it up and thumb through a few pages? Or, do you pick it up intently and read every word: relishing that it was a labor of love, a window into the soul of the man you never met? The man that gave his life for a country where you were privelaged to reap the benefits of his sacrifice...
THAT my friend, is why I read the Bible. My Heavenly Father cared enough to leave me a personal message.
Yes, I could listen to what every preacher, teacher, and saint has taught me about what God's Word says. Which, I do. But there is NOTHING like getting a story first hand. I used to be that child who listened intently on what everyone else told me about what this great book had to say. But now, I cannot tell you the joy that comes from opening up the pages and seeing the history of God's love be revealed by God himself. You see, I am beginning to believe more and more that the "inspired" Word of God relates more to how He inspires us personally as we dig deeper into His truths, that it does by the words written by the saints so many years ago.
Why do you read the Bible? Do you even really read it? That is my challenge for you. Take out that personal love letter from God and start digging into the truths He has specifically for you.
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