Bible
Greetings and Salutations, delightful people, one and all! I hope that you are having a wonderful day doing whatever it is that you're finding to do. One of the cool things about my days is that I am a book nerd, and I get to spend tons of time studying the greatest collection of books that has ever been or will ever be written.
I am talking about the Bible, which—although we tend to think of it as one book—is actually a collection of 66 different books written over a period of about 1,500 years. As I say that, let’s take a second and be honest about the fact that even if you are a book nerd of some sort, for many people, the idea of spending tons of time reading and studying the Bible does not sound like a cool thing.
To the contrary, sometimes people have a really hard time with the Bible. On the one hand, it's supposed to say lots of important things—and it does. But on the other hand, reading the Bible can feel boring and confusing and the farthest thing from exciting and enlightening. So the reality is that a lot of people have given up on the Bible.
For some people that means that, instead of digging in and getting to know the Bible, they just wait for people like me to do the work and then hand it out in a sermon or a book or a few minutes on the radio. And for other people, giving up on the Bible means acting like the Bible doesn't exist, ignoring it completely, and looking for your answers in life elsewhere.
If you find yourself in either of those two camps this week, don’t give up on the Bible. It’s worth the effort, and so are you.
When you discover on the first page of the first book of the whole Bible that people are the only thing in the entire universe that is created in the image of God, that changes things. It changes the way you look at the people in your life (even the annoying ones) and it changes the way you look at yourself.
And when you discover on the last page of the last book of the Bible that, after Jesus died for the sins of the whole world and then came back to life, He gave us a glimpse of what forever is going to look like. And He promised that He is going to come back and make that happen, that changes things. It changes the things you care about, and it changes the things you choose to put your trust in.
From front to back, the Bible tells the true story of God and people—past, present, and future. That story is still going on right now, and you are a part of it! So don't give up on the Bible, and don't give up on God. Because I promise, He has not given up on you.
