He said to me, "I don't believe in the Bible. It's full of
contradictions and was just written by men anyway."
The first question that came to mind was, "Have you ever read the
Bible?"
"No."
"Then how can you decide if it's full of contradictions or if it is
really truth?"
"I've read about it and people have told me what's in it," he said as
he closed the door on the conversation.
The Bible makes some extraordinary claims. It claims to be the very
Word of God. It claims that Jesus is God and that the secret to eternal life
and forgiveness for our sins can be found within its covers. It claims to
have guidelines that lead to better lives for those who follow its precepts.
It claims to have the secrets to peace and contentment.
It is the best selling book of all time. Chances are good that, at
least in most western countries, you have one floating around you house
somewhere gathering dust.
Ironically, most of the people who reject its claims have never read
it. Even more ironic is the fact that most of the people who accept its
claims have never read it. If you poll a group of believers, even those who
have been church attendees for years, you will find that 90% of them
(including many pastors) have never read the whole Bible.
The secret to eternal life, the secret to peace, joy, happiness and
love sitting on a shelf and never read; what a tragedy.
Chances are whether you are a believer or not, you have read a number
of self-help books in an effort to enhance your life. Yet no self-help book
in the world makes the claims that the Bible does. No matter where you are in
your journey, a non-believing skeptic or a devoted believer, this is one book
you need to read.
The key to life is in your grasp.
Have you read it?
Some people say they don't know where to begin. One way I often suggest
is to begin by reading the book of John through a couple of times. Follow
that with the New Testament in its entirety. Then read from Genesis to
Revelation. Read for 15 minutes a day and before the year is out, you will
have read through from cover to cover.
If you don't like that approach, here are a couple of links that
provide suggested plans for reading through the Bible in a year.
There are many other approaches out there. Simply do a search under
"Bible Reading Plan" and pick one that appeals to your reading style.
Don't depend on second hand opinions as to what the most important book
in the world says. Read it for yourself.
Until next time, may you begin a daily time with the word, starting
TODAY.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah (Praise God)!
Kevin
