To many people the Bible is a big dull book that is irrelevant for today. Many contend that the Bible is made up of fictional stories and myths and that its message is out of date. Others, are less kind, and believe that the Bible is for fools, jerks, and wimps.
The interesting thing about all of these observations is that the people who make them probably have never really read the Bible, but yet are experts on why you shouldn’t read it. And sadly, I must confess, I used to fall into this class of people. I was an expert on why the Bible was irrelevant and behind the times, yet I had never read it before – and that’s just plain foolish and illogical. Today, forty years after making this claim, I have read my Bible from cover to cover and over and over and over again! Why this radical change of heart? Have I lost my mind? Have I found a crutch to lean on? Or just maybe have I discovered my friends that you hold in your possession today the most amazing, influential and transformational book ever written – the Bible.
You see there is more action, adventure, romance, intrigue, wisdom, life and inspiration in this one volume than in any other book ever written. It is a breathtaking, panoramic saga of kings, empires and dynasties, vividly described in the rich, full texture of an ancient world setting. Great wealth and splendor are continuously contrasted with the everyday life and affairs of the common man.
The Bible is the greatest love story ever told. Its central driving theme is about God loving you so much that He sent His own son, Jesus, to die for you to redeem you from a certain eternal death. And not only that but God tells us, in the pages of His word, that when we die we don’t just disappear into nothing, but we get a glorified body and get to live forever in a perfect place called heaven!
I don’t know about you but everyday I read my Bible for inspiration and illumination. I read my Bible to meet the Creator of the universe each morning. I get the incredible privilege to commune with Jesus, one on one, and He fills my cup with joy and peace to overflowing.
My sincere prayer for those of you who have been following my devotions for a while is that as we have journeyed together on this fantastic voyage and wonderful treasure hunt into the fabulous world of the Bible that I may have whet your appetite to read and study your Bible even more.
And for those of you who may not be reading the Bible on a regular basis and would really like to know the author of this amazing book, the Bible, Jesus Christ, more intimately – then why not make a commitment to begin reading your Bible every day. I guarantee you if you do this with an open heart you will meet Him in its pages.
So, in closing – “Bible fever – Catch it!”
“we get a glorified body and get to live forever in a perfect place called heaven!”
Since this devotion is about treasuring the Bible and it’s author, we need to be faithful to its message in every detail. This quote states that we will live in heaven forever. As lovers of the Bible, we want to follow the example of the Bereans who diligently studied to make sure everything they were being taught was so. What am I getting at? The question that has been begged is “do we live in heaven forever?
Without engaging in a lengthy exposition, I will simply say that “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,
Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” Rev. 21
“But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”
II Peter 3:13
And as Jesus promised, believers are those who will inherit the earth. Matt. 5
It is on this new earth that we will carry out God’s original plan for mankind, to have dominion and subdue His creation to our enjoyment and His glory forever.
We leave our harps and clouds to labor, create, and rule our inheritance, the new earth. And the government will be upon Christs shoulders and “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.” Isa. 9:7