The problem is not that God hasn’t spoken but that we haven’t listened.

Imagine your reaction if I were to take a telephone book, open it up, and proclaim, I have found a list of everyone who’s on welfare! Or what if I said, Here is a list of college graduates! Or, This book will tell us who has a red car. You’d probably say, “Now wait a minute, that’s not the purpose of that book. You’re holding a telephone book. Its purpose is simply to reveal the name and number of residents of a city during a certain time frame.”

Only by understanding its purpose can I accurately use the telephone book. Only by understanding its purpose can I accurately use the Bible!

The purpose of the Bible is simply to proclaim God’s plan to save his children. It asserts that man is lost and needs to be saved. And it communicates the message that Jesus is the God in the flesh sent to save his children.

Though the Bible was written over sixteen centuries by at least forty authors, it has one central theme – salvation through faith in Christ. Begun by Moses in the lonely desert of Arabia and finished by John on the lonely Isle of Patmos, it is held together by a strong thread: God’s passion and God’s plan to save his children.

What a vital truth! Understanding the purpose of the Bible is like setting the compass in the right direction. Calibrate it correctly and you’ll journey safely. But fail to set it, and who knows where you’ll end up.

What do you Want?

By Max Lucado
From: Let the Journey Begin: God’s Road map for New Beginnings
Used by permission.

To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:    
https://maxlucado.com/about-max/

RELATED READING

Where to Start Reading the Bible

Read the Manual

The Christian and the Bible

You Have a Bible?

The post Set Your Compass in the Right Direction appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“…and the people stood in their place. And they read in the book, in the law of God, distinctly; and they gave the sense, so that they understood the reading. Nehemiah 8:7-8

As we decorated the front yard with Christmas lights one recent night, it was handy to have the headlights of the car to see what we were doing. After finishing our decorating, we realized that while the Christmas lights operate off of household current, the car depends on a battery and it is only good for so long and hence the need for jumper cables to the rescue.

I eased one car grill to grill to the other, opened the trunk, got out the jumper cables and then could not figure out how to pop open the hood. I looked and looked but could not figure it out, so I removed the owner’s manual from its original wrapping and found out how to proceed.

My friend Pastor Bob Record claims that the automobile owner’s manual is the least read book, even though most households own more than one. Is there a spiritual parallel here?

How often do we try to tackle the challenges of life and ignore the greatest book of advice …… God’s Word? Maybe the car manual is the least read, but the Bible isn’t far behind for many people, even though most own one or more. We struggle with life and leave the greatest advice book on life and living unopened.

Studying and reading is important in understanding God’s word and learning how to apply it in our lives. As Christians, it’s a major way that we draw closer to God.

Jesus realized the importance of people knowing Scripture, because He would teach from it when He was traveling from town to town. Not only that, but Jesus also used Scripture to battle Satan during his 40 days in the wilderness. Jesus said that the truth sanctifies us and that the word is this truth.

In Hebrews 4:12, the Word says, “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.”

Is God’s Word living and active in your life today? Read it daily and it will change your life.

by John Grant
used by permission

John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney

FURTHER READING

• Where to Start Reading the Bible
• The Christian and the Bible
• You Have a Bible?
• Open Bible, Open Heart, Open Ears

The post Read the Manual appeared first on Thoughts About God.