In my blog on 10/17, I talked about knowing that the Bible is true and that it can transform lives, but in order for God to use it transform our lives we need to spend time in it. As I mentioned in worship at Living Hope on Sunday, the Bible is an instruction manual for life. It tells us what we need to know to be able to live the life that God is calling us to. As we find in Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”
The Bible is full of wonderful instructions on things we should do and things we should avoid in our lives. It is not just a list of do’s and don’ts, but it helps to give us some guideline and principles to help us discern things for ourselves. There are many things in our world today that did not exist when the Bible was written, but that doesn’t mean the Bible doesn’t say anything about them. Even though there was no cyber bulling or identity theft, the Bible still speaks to them. Mark 10:30-31 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
In order to know what this amazing instruction manual for life says, we need to spend time reading it. In our present age of technology this has never been easier! We used to have to carry our Bibles and fancy Bible covers around with us to read it whenever we wanted to, but not anymore! Along with the traditional Bibles that most of us have in our homes, we can also read the Bible on the internet (try www.BibleGateway.com), and even our smart phones (try apps like YouVersion by LifeChurch.tv or BibleGateway by Zondervan)! All of these things are free and mean that we can read the Bible anywhere we are! All of these great sites provide Bible reading plans on different subjects, or reading plans that help guide you through reading the entire Bible. You can also sign up to have your daily reading plan, or the verse of the day sent to you by e-mail.
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Whether we read it from the tradition Bible, or on our computers or smart phones, we can rest assured and God can and does work through the words on the page/screen to change and transform us in the disciples that He is calling us to be. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
God bless, Rev. Liz Arakelian, www.LivingHopeEC.org
