I love my Bible because I love Jesus. As I spend time with Him in its pages, His Spirit teaches me, reminding me of the very words of Jesus, as if I’d been among His first disciples. Sometimes I’m listening and I get it, but other times, He’s preparing me for another time or season as He did the twelve.
“I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do happen, you will believe.”
John 14:29 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.14.29.NLT
“There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now.
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.
He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard.
He will tell you about the future.
He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.
All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’”
John 16:12-15 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.16.12-14.NLT
Pioneer families crossing the rugged terrain heading west often carried one treasured book, likely a family Bible. This tremendously weighty volume would be pored over by the parents and used for schooling even the smallest child. It would have held the family history passed down from generation to generation. This book was guarded and revered.
My mother has her grandfather’s Bible with notations on nearly every page. He was a first generation Christian, saved by grace from a life of strong drink and its meaner effects. He learned to read largely as an adult by listening to the Bible being read. My mother recalls his unquenchable desire for God’s Word during her childhood. His Bible is worn with age and use, but at his passing, His soul was ready for God.
I have many copies of the Bible. There are editions gifted to me by my parents at my baptism, graduation, and marriage. I own several different translations for study and teaching. I also have journaling Bibles, chronological and topical Bibles in my library, and one just because it is beautifully illuminated. Holding them and leafing through the pages brings me joy and comfort. I treat them reverently, not because of their innate value. They are simply paper bound in mostly artificial leather. I handle them with care because by this, I show respect for the treasure those bound pages contain.
That I have to teach a student not to casually toss a classroom Bible into a basket or to another student is alarming to me, but it is reflective of the age- both of the child and of the current time. God’s Word and God’s House are not revered as they once were, and God’s temple, our bodies, are surely not! If we’re not teaching the next generation to show respect for themselves, how can we teach them to honor their elders or treat anything as sacred?
“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?
You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1co.6.19-20.NLT
I saved a book for twenty-five years to share with my kid’s kids, several in fact for more than twenty-five years. I found one that belonged to me that’s nearing fifty years old. The simple fact that they’ve made the cut on hundreds of spring cleaning purges and survived half a dozen moves and now own real estate in my retirement home proves they have value to me, but all that pales in comparison to the longevity of one book- God’s Word- the Bible.
God caused His written Word to be preserved for thousands of years, made it accessible in almost every known language, and He gives His Holy Spirit to ensure it can be read and understood. Jesus’s final command to His followers was to share this good news with the world, to share Him with the world.
“And then he told them,
“Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.”
Mark 16:15 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mrk.16.15.NLT
“In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.
So the Word became human and made his home among us.
He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.
And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”
John 1:1, 4, 14 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.1.1-14.NLT
Ultimately, God is moving all things toward one moment, the moment Jesus foreshadowed when He taught us to pray, “Your Kingdom Come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)
“For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.
Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse.
But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.
For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering.
We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.
We were given this hope when we were saved.
If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it.
But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.”
Romans 8:19-25 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.8.19-25.NLT
“The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the Lord.
And so it is with people.
The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”
Isaiah 40:7-8 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.40.8.NLT
“And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.”
1 Peter 1:25 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1pe.1.25.NLT
As God confirmed the messages of the prophets to kings and peoples across the ages, so He keeps every promise He has ever made- and many yet to come are certain nevertheless.
“The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!”
2 Kings 19:31 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2ki.19.31.NLT
Jesus is coming again.
He said it and I believe it.
He alone has the power to preserve life, save souls, and pronounce judgement.
Whether or not you are sentimental about such things makes no difference.
Whether or not you believe in Him or acknowledge His existence is irrelevant.
He is the Vine- the Source and Sustainer of all life.
We are but branches.
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.
He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.
Remain in me, and I will remain in you.
For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches.
Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.
For apart from me you can do nothing.
When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.
I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy.
Yes, your joy will overflow!”
John 15:1-2, 4-5, 10-11 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.15.1-11.NLT
I love my Bible because I love Jesus. By His Word, I am sanctified, set apart for His purpose. (John 17:17) In Him, I have abundant life today and I am being prepared for eternity with Him. All this is God’s doing. He loved me first, and He loves you, my friend. Do you know Him? Do you love Him?
The Bible you hold in your hands is a priceless treasure. You hold the very Word of God. Start with John 3:16- “For God so loved the world…” but don’t stop there. The more you know Him, the more you can love Him.
Jesus loves me
This I know
For the Bible tells me so
Yes, Jesus loves me
For the Bible tells me so
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