“HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN?”

“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth” (John 17:17).
“The Holy Scriptures are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction, in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (II Timothy 3:15-17).
“Widespread neglect of the Bible by churches and by church people is just simply appalling. Oh, we talk about the Bible, and defend the Bible, and praise the Bible, and exalt the Bible. Yes, indeed! But many church members seldom ever look into a Bible – indeed, would be ashamed to be seen reading the Bible. And church leadership generally seems to be making no serious effort to get people to be Bible readers… Present day Protestantism seems to care so little for the Book it so loudly professes! And Roman Catholicism avowedly prefers its own decrees above the Bible! We are intelligent about everything else in the world. Why not be intelligent about our religion? We read newspapers, magazines, novels, and all kinds of books, and listen to the radio and watch TV by the hour. Yet most of us do not even know the names of the Bible books. Shame on us! Shame on us! Worse still, the pulpit, which could easily remedy the situation, seems, with rare exception, not to care!” (Henry H. Halley- Adapted)

The Bible should be the Book we live by. It reveals the existence of God, all certain knowledge of God, God’s own thinking, nature, character, and will. It tells us there is a Heaven, a Hell, a Day of Judgment, and a Savior. By the Holy Bible, and by it alone, can be learned the way of salvation.
We need to read God’s Holy Word regularly and frequently that we might know the will of God for our lives here and hereafter. We need to study it diligently until God’s thoughts become our thoughts, His character and virtues our own, His heart becomes one with our heart, and we come to be transformed into God’s own image and made partakers of the divine nature!
“Till I come, give attention to reading…” (I Timothy 4:13). “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15). Brothers and sisters, let us be readers of the Word and not merely professors of religion!
Larry Atkin, Preacher