Hey dear family & friends,
here is something dear to my heart that I wish to share with you.
Most religions have their ancient holy books which guides them and teaches them the precepts of their religion.
For Christians it is the Bible. The Bible is the inspired Word of God, which when read, meditated upon and obeyed, transforms us to Christ likeness.
Christians are expected to be the light of Christ to all in the world. In fact Jesus Himself tells us that we must be the light of the world in Matt 5:14-16.
But not all who call themselves Christians live that way. In fact I have heard people talking such..."Hey he is a Christian but see how sarcastic and rude he is!" "Hey she goes to church and says she is a Christian, yet she gossips about everyone!"
I have never heard anyone say, "He/she is a Muslim, a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Taoist, a Free Thinker, yet he/she behaves that way!"
Why? It is because everyone holds a Christian by the standards of the Bible and by the standards of Jesus.
Why is the Bible sacred to us Christians?
'Ultimately, above the human authors, the Bible was written by God. Second Timothy 3:16 tells us that the Bible was “breathed out” by God. God superintended the human authors of the Bible so that, while using their own writing styles and personalities, they still recorded exactly what God intended. The Bible was not dictated by God, but it was perfectly guided and entirely inspired by Him.
Humanly speaking, the Bible which contains 66 books was written by approximately 40 men of diverse backgrounds over the course of 1500 years. Isaiah was a prophet, Ezra was a priest, Matthew was a tax-collector, John was a fisherman, Paul was a tentmaker, Moses was a shepherd, Luke was a physician. Despite being penned by different authors over 15 centuries, the Bible does not contradict itself and does not contain any errors. The authors all present different perspectives, but they all proclaim the same one true God, and the same one way of salvation—Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).'
(The above taken from 'gotquestions.org')
The Bible is the only ancient book that tells the end from the beginning. The future of mankind, the entire planet earth and the universe is already foretold in the Bible.
We believe that this Word of God transforms the life of the reader (if he/she reads it and allows the words to change him/her). It depends on how we read the Bible.
Do we just keep it as a sacred book (which collects dust) and only refer to it when needed, once a year or a few years or do we consume it as our daily bread?
Do we just turn the pages and pick out only the 'make me feel good' verses which appeal to us or do we read it as God's Word which convicts and corrects our behaviour, our speech and our thinking?
We will only understand what God has in store for us when we read the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation earnestly.
The Word of God can only transform us when we read the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation and put into practice what we read, with the help of God's Holy Spirit.
I have seen some, just buying positive Bible verse cards from bookshops and pick out one card every morning to see what is in store for them that day. They use it as fortune telling cards.
Many just pick verses that pertain only to healing or only to prosperity or only to a happy life and read it, as though by just being healed and by being prosperous and happy, they become a pleasing child of God.
There are those who attend Bible classes and study the bible just to win arguments with others.
The author of Hebrews says this:-
Hebrews 4:12
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
When we are sincere about living a life that pleases God, we will read the Bible daily and consume it as our spiritual food. We will not just read it but meditate on the words day and night and allow it to change us from the inside out.
Many think that the Old Testament in the Bible is irrelevant to these modern times. They only read the New Testament. Let me tell you that without the Old Testament, one will never understand Who Jesus is and why He came to this world in human form and why He did what He did. Furthermore we learn many important life lessons from the lives of the many Old Testament characters.
It is my ardent desire that every Christian will daily devour the entire Bible, the treasure map that God has given us, and live transformed lives which pleases God.
Reading God's Word is to transform us into the image of Jesus our Saviour; not to win arguments. We must read it daily, meditate on it and obey it humbly so that our speech, our mannerisms and our thoughts can be renewed.
May we Christians be the light of the world and lead all we meet from darkness into God's divine light.
God bless you 🙌
Mary Augustine ✍️ 🌹
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