Today we met down on Cejl Street for our men’s discipleship group meeting / IAS. IT was a beautiful day to walk down there as the sun was shining and the temps were cool but moderating upward. Joe and Pavel were at the meeting and we had 3 Roma men. I am thankful for these men because they have proven to be faithful to attend and are serious about studying the Bible with us. Oh… by the way, the Bible was our main topic of discussion this morning.
The scripture is indeed a lamp unto our feet and guides us through this dark sinful world. The Bible does a good job of describing itself and we focused on a few of the verses this morning with follow-up discussing prompted by the IAS probing questions. Here were a few of the scriptures we examined: Psalm 119:18, John 1:14, Psalm 119:11, Hebrews 4:12, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Matthew 24:35, Isaiah 55:11, Psalm 119:105, and James 1:22.
These are rich verses and offer us insight about scripture and the power that it contains. The men all agreed that they especially appreciate the fact that God’s Word brings power into our life spiritually… it leads us in the right direction… it was inspired by God personally, and will never be destroyed by man. When we consider that the Bible in all of it’s translations and languages has been printed more than any book on earth, why OH why do we so often neglect it’s valuable purpose? Why would we spend more time pouring over the newest copy of a “Harry Potter” installment than focus upon the love letter that was given us to lead us to Jesus? Hmmm, another good question. Ok, now I am probably going to step on a few toes… so, forgive me in advance but I am sure that many people in churches back home have eagerly read through “The Shack” but have never read through the Bible one time. OUCH! Yes, some of you are already bristling a bit at that comment. I could of course use many other book titles to make that comparison. I must also confess that I struggle with reading and studying the Bible as much as I should. I probably read through online articles and technical material more than I do the scripture. So, trust me… I am preaching to myself as well. In reality, this is simply a question of priority and planning… and passion. We generally find time for the things we are passionate about. I pray that we will all fall in love again with the very Word of God and desire to read it with passion and commitment… amen.
