It's Dinner Time!

As I have mentioned before, I have been reading the through the Bible this year, attempting to read it in its entirety within 10 months. However, no matter how we have planned and tried to stick to schedule, life has a way of tossing us curveballs that can make us swing off course. My curveball was more than a week of the flu and a cold, and not only did it wipe me out, but I didn’t want to read anything. I forced myself to read some Bible here and there, but I have fallen far off course from my target. I am certainly working my way back on course, but I got to thinking about the Word of God today.

How many of us read the Bible like we read the newspaper, or a novel, or Newsweek magazine? In other words, do we just read the Bible casually, not really gleaning much from its wealth? I was listening to a message my one of my favorite preachers, Pastor Tim Dilena, and he was preaching on eating the Bible as opposed to reading it. I know the eating brings up an interesting picture when talking about the Bible, but let’s look into it.

When you are hungry, hardly anything will stop you from sitting down to a good meal. From time to time, my parents have us over for Sunday dinners, and my Step dad Don is the best chef (I know you’re reading this, Don!). He can grill up a steak that would make Emril jealous! And when it’s time to sit down and eat, I can hardly say grace fast enough (not to be irreverent, God knows my heart!). And when it’s time to eat, it’s not just some casual meal, but for me, it’s an event. I devour the steak! Our study of the Word of God should be as well. The timeless Word of Almighty God, inspired by His Spirit, written through human beings to convey His Truth down through the ages is at our fingertips! Let us dig in.

Think of the most important person you can think of. Perhaps it’s someone like Ronald Reagan, or Winston Churchill, or another wise person that is looked up to in society. Given the opportunity, most I think would want to sit down with such people and pick their brains, and glean from their wisdom. How much more the Creator of the universe? I’m reminded of a story out of the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John. Jesus was preaching to a multitude of people, and he had said some things that were too hard for them to swallow. People then immediately started to turn away from him, and stopped following him. Jesus turned to the twelve disciples and asked them, “Will you go also?” Peter looked at him, and said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (see John 6:60-69) The disciples found someone that they not only wanted to glean from, but who had picked them personally, so he could pour himself into them. He had the “words of eternal life”.

That is what the Bible is. It’s not just some dusty old book that’s outdated and of no value to modern society. Neither is it the moldy, old account of what God has done in the past, but it contains the very words of life. That is why it is paramount that we take the time to study the Bible, and to glean from it the Truth that God has provided for us all.

It’s not just the preachers, my friends. It’s for you, whether you are a pastor or a fireman or a garbage man. We need the Word of God. Just to whet your appetite for the Bible, I heard this neat little summary of the Bible, called “The Bible in 50 Words”. I am closing out this little article today with it. God bless!

God made, Adam bit, Noah
arked, Abraham split, Joseph
ruled, Jacob fooled, bush talked,
Moses balked, Pharaoh plagued,
people walked, sea divided,
tablets guided, promise landed,
Saul freaked, David peeked,
prophets warned, Jesus born,
God walked, love talked, anger
crucified, hope died, Love rose,
Spirit flamed, Word spread, God
remained.