Worship Service Times
Sunday Mornings
8:30am & 10:45am
Sunday School: 9:45am
Bibles, Bibles, Bibles!
By Pastor Tim Becker
I’m so pleased! We at FBC purchased about 80 Bibles this past week.
This interest in getting a new Bible is evidence of God’s grace among
us. God is good. He is stirring us to seek him in his Word.
If you are like me, the hard part comes next.
I love the idea of having good books on my shelf, books that I want to
read. But actually reading them is somehow much harder to accomplish. I
want to read them, but when it comes time to do it, my resolve falters.
Does that happen with you? Getting a new Bible, perhaps one with lots
of study notes, is exciting. So then why are we reluctant when it comes
time to actually sit down with the Bible and read it? Hints of the
answer are found in my behavior. If the book has pictures or
illustrations or tables, I’ll eagerly look at those. I’ll eagerly skim
the table of contents, chapter headings, etc. If the book is “light
reading,” I’m eager to read it. My reluctance shows itself when it’s
time to just start reading, word after word, paragraph after paragraph,
page after page. Why?
Someone once said, “Our minds are lazier than
our bodies.” Thinking is hard work. Skimming pictures and charts is
easy. Understanding word after word is hard. Flitting through a light
magazine article is easy. Grasping the logic of an author is hard. To
understand an author means to think his thoughts after him. As we read,
we have the potential to see what the author sees, to see something
we’ve never seen before. But only if we think – hard. If we are willing
to only lightly exercise our minds, then we will gain only breezy
thoughts, wisps of air. And breezy thoughts won’t carry the burdens of
real life trials.
So as many of you are about to face the hard
part of your new Bible, let your view of the reward spur you on. We
don’t read the Bible just to say we’ve done it. We don’t read the Bible
to gain brownie points with God. We read the Bible because
The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
To sharpen our motivation to read our Bibles,
to do the hard work of thinking, we must consider what we will gain by
our hard work. My soul regularly needs reviving. Life’s decisions make
me yearn for wisdom. Disappointments sadden my heart; it needs help to
rejoice. My eyes need to be enlightened away from impure desires. When
our minds are lazy and don’t want to read the Word of God, let’s compel
our thoughts to consider the sorry state of our soul and heart and
eyes. Talk to yourself. Say, “I need help that only God’s Word can give
me!” It’s true. Ask God for a heart that is hungry for him. Then read
his Word to see him and to be satisfied.
