When I was young, the Bible just sat on the buffet table collecting dust! Once I peaked at the end of the book to see what happens. It scared me! One thing I read was that a loaf of bread would someday cost a whole day’s pay of work. It didn’t make sense! So, I asked my mom how it could be? It seemed impossible! She didn’t know the answer.
Today is July 19, 2011, and bread now costs at least $2 and as much as $5 a loaf. Most of the world’s economies are in major debt, job cuts and unemployment are skyrocketing, and fear is gripping many people.
Now I could finally understand what the Bible was talking about. Although we’re not to the end yet, as described in the book of Revelation, I could now see how this would happen in the near future. I can even see it being possible in my future!
Each time I picked up a Bible later in my life, I just couldn’t seem to get very far in my reading. Why? Distractions, boredom, lack of understanding, confusion from perceived contradictions, and difficulty reading the language; these were just a few of the reasons why I always quickly stopped reading the Bible.
I was considered to be a “fool” at that time of my life, even according to the Bible! But, I just didn’t know it yet! I didn’t understand the truth. I didn’t realize that I was living in opposition to my creator, God – the one I prayed to in my times of need!
As a sinner, I needed to be restored. The restoration that I needed was a relationship with my Heavenly Father, God. I was lost to the original sin of Adam and Eve. OK, so you may not believe the story of Adam and Eve, and the Garden of Eden, which most Americans have heard about, but let me tell you, it’s true! They had a relationship with God in the beginning, but their disobedience was a sin, and they became separated from Him.
We need a relationship with God more than any other relationship in our life. It’s all true — everything about God and the stories in the Bible.
When I was in my late 20s, I began to read the Bible because I had been invited to a Bible study that I attended for a short time, but it didn’t “stick.” The cares of the world and the weeds or thorns choked out any life of the Word. Please see Matthew 13:18-23, which describes the parable of the sower, and also look up Luke, Chapter 8, and read about how the enemy tries to stop us from reading and gaining understanding from the Word of God, that is, the Bible.
A lot happened to me between my 20s and the day I turned 40, when I began to have more interest in the reading the Bible. My deeper interest in God still didn’t “stick,” but there was more going on inside of me. I was beginning to say the “sinner’s pray,” but it was still coming from my mind and not from my heart. If this doesn’t make sense to you yet, it will. Just keep reading this blog.
Eventually I started going to this new church because I found that I was free from the church of my youth, pending the divorce. I say free, because I was no longer bound by my marriage to go to a certain church, as I used to be.
I decided to go to a nondenominational Christian church. I had seen all the people driving in there when I was still attending the Catholic church. I wondered why so many people went there. The first day I attended this church, I ended up realizing that I was sitting right behind my roofer, who had helped me after the hurricane! This was right after my marriage was ending. I was in bad shape! He had his “small group” praying for me. At that time, I didn’t even know what that was… and later I found out it was a Bible study group! I really needed those prayers. God was hearing them, and He was beginning to guide me closer toward Himself.
One day, I heard this saying: Each of the letters pronounced in the word B.I.B.L.E. stand for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. I have found this to be so true and wonderful. There is a manual for life! It’s the Bible! It’s the Word of God. Read it! You’ll learn how to live this life the right way: God’s way! It will bring you the promise of eternal life. I wouldn’t ever want to live without it again.
Until we virtually meet again, may God call you to Himself.
God’s Word for Today: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction [italics: my emphasis].” (Proverbs 1:7 – KJV)
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