*For a sworn testimony, we are asked by the courts: “Please place your right hand on the Bible: Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?” Most people do it without even knowing a scintilla of what’s in that book!
The Bible! People may boast “I have a Bible…matter of fact I’ve got two!” And so it may be; they have one collecting dust on the coffee table, and the other collecting dust on their nightstand! But what does it mean to just “have” a Bible? Some people feel as long as they have it, that’s proof that they’re religious. Some people open it up to the 23rd Psalm, light a candle and think their whole house is blessed. That makes as much sense as a student opening a book, not reading it and thinking they’ll pass a test. No one can study and pass a test for you; you have to READ IT FOR YOURSELF!!
In any learning that’s going to benefit us, there is a process. As a baby, we were first taught to sit up (some of us may remember the “sit lonely”); then we learned to stand; then we learned to walk. That’s the natural process. No baby – not even baby Jesus – came through the womb walking! In school, we get our books (the writing), we study the writings (the reading), then we express what we’ve learned in a test (the telling).
Many people I know got baptized at an early age; they say they believe in God; they say they know about Jesus; and they know “Jesus wept,” and they believe that’s all that God requires of them. I’ve heard many people proclaim at funerals that a departed loved one or friend is “smiling down from heaven.” But do they really know? Did they ever take time to ask the departed if they’ve ever publicly professed Christ as Lord and Savior according to Romans 10:9,10?
In times like these, when there is so much evil lurking in high places and low places, it should behoove us to spend more time reading God’s word and sharing what He reveals to us in the spirit of truth and righteousness. The time is now for speaking out boldly about the things we’ve learned about salvation. The saying “Born once, die twice; born twice die once” simply means that on judgment day those born of the physical who’ve never accepted Christ will spend eternity separated from God, and those who’ve been born again through Jesus Christ will spend eternity in God’s kingdom. All of us are on a schedule in the physical – just as grass grows and withers – but the spirit never dies. The choice is ours now to decide where we will spend eternity.
Read God’s word and it will speak to you. Take the time and don’t let television and social media distract you. God has a plan for your life; a purpose and a destiny. Don’t be discouraged; the best is yet to come if you fellowship with God through the reading of His word. Then when you read it, run and tell someone about the good news that is sure to be revealed to you!! God is faithful and delights in sharing good news with believers who are His children!!
Larry Buford is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and author. E-mail: [email protected]
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