Why Bother with the Bible? — Morning Devotions - Hope 103.2

Why Bother with the Bible? — Morning Devotions

Why do we bother with a book that is thousands of years old? What use does it have in a world that has changed so much since it was first written?

By Chris WittsWednesday 21 Sep 2022Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 1 minute


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Transcript:

Today, if you look in many motel rooms at the bedside table drawer, you’ll find a Bible. I wonder how many people actually read it nowadays? It is still the highest selling book in the world. My question today is ‘why bother with a 2000 year old religious book in this modern world which has changed so much?’

I did hear about a lady who became interested in the Christian faith. She started attending her local church. She gave her life to Jesus and was given a Bible. She was encouraged by the minister to start reading the Bible for herself. But her husband wasn’t very impressed about this. He noticed her reading each morning and night, and after about six months he couldn’t contain his anger anymore. And one day he yelled at her. “Haven’t you finished that book yet?”

You see, he missed the point. The Bible is very different to any other manuscript in the world. You never finish reading it. Actually, some people say they can find God in nature or through personal spiritual practices. So why bother with the Bible? Isn’t it just one archaic book that’s not relevant in this modern time?

What does the Bible have to offer?

In a day when so many claim to talk directly with God, is the Bible really needed? I think that many are saying, can an ancient manuscript written so long ago still speak to me today? How is that even possible? But the amazing thing is that people are still reading it in the digital age across the world. It has meaning that crosses the centuries and cultures, and the economic strata and gender and race. We know that the writers of this text were human authors. They were tribal leaders, preserving their family histories and interactions with God.

Some were priests who helped to shape the ritual life of God’s people. Some were prophets and their followers, who spoke with the fire of divine conviction, apostles who travelled with Jesus and saw what He did. There were the disciples who wrote to one another to guard the faith that had been given. These human authors did not, however, simply just stew stories and preserve the teachings based on what they thought or what they preferred. They were inspired by God, and that’s the difference here. The Bible is God communicating to us as if he were here telling us a story. We can be assured that God’s desire is to be in communication with us and to be engaged in our lives. And so we look to the Bible for the facts of how God has done this throughout the ages. It makes for immensely compelling reading.

Have you read some part of the Bible for yourself? If you haven’t, start at the Gospel of John, take your time to read the inspiring words.

The world of the Bible is ancient, far removed from the dizzy pace of today’s life. The people in the Bible have complicated and difficult names. There are different styles of writing. You do need to concentrate and the old excuse of “oh, I can’t understand the old language that’s gone.” New translations mean that you can read and very easily understand it.

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Today, God himself promises to supersede the distance between our narrow ways of thinking to his expansive worldview. He draws near to us when we don’t even want to draw near to him. And the way he does that is through the Scriptures. God himself comes right down to the page. He even describes himself as the Word. Flesh came to live with us. And whenever you read the Bible, He leaps out and makes Himself known.

There is no other book that will do that for you. Now. there are many questions that philosophers have asked that God answer for us in Scripture. What’s the purpose of life? Where did I come from? Is there life after death? How do I get to heaven? Why is the world full of evil? Why do I struggle to do good? They’re some of the big questions, and the Bible gives much practical advice in other areas of life. How can I have a successful marriage? How can I be a good friend? How can I be a good parent? What is success? How can I change? What about the unfair circumstances of life? These, plus many more of the questions and issues that many of us ask.

Let’s Pray

Heavenly Father, today I thank you that the Bible is not a dusty old book sitting on a shelf to be read sometime. It is Your Word. It’s alive, powerful and affects us deep down. Help me, Lord, to bother with the Bible and to live by its principles every day, amen.