correspond regularly. I love to read her letters. Do you love to read God’s letters to you? There are all sorts of things we need to know in this life. We can only find out about them in Scripture. Men devise all sorts of philosophies; however, such human viewpoints change almost as quickly as they come. Someone has aptly said, “Philosophies come, and philosophies go, but philosophizing goes on for ever.” Think how many people there are in the world who don’t seem to know anything about the purpose of life. The Bible has all the answers! Get out your Bible and see for your self. Most people don’t know what God requires of them. They could, but they just haven’t taken the time. If you find out these things for your self, you will remember them. Peo ple have such big problems today. To many, life itself is just one big prob lem after another. The answers can be found in the excellent Textbook the Lord has given, if we will take the time to read it. When a person realizes what the Bible is for, it is so exciting. When you realize what you can learn from Scripture, it is thrilling. Check your spiritual condi tion to see that you are really in volved in the Bible yourself. That’s the first reason why you ought to read and study it. The second is that the Bible is described as “the sword of the Spirit.” Men and women are intended to be in God’s army. As soldiers, you need to use a weapon. A Christian is a person in whom the risen Lord Jesus lives by His Spirit. His weapon is the Bible. A sword can be an offensive or a defensive weap on. As Christians, we must be on the offensive. (That doesn’t mean we’re supposed to be offensive!) Many Christians today are very apologetic. They are concerned about what people think. They have heard so many theories, they feel their be liefs wouldn’t really make any im pact on people. So, they don’t really say anything about faith in Christ.
listening to the product of someone else’s study. After all, the minister is paid to do it; it’s his job because he went to seminary. Keep in mind, however, that the Bible wasn’t writ ten for experts but for ordinary peo ple like you and me. As I was talking on this subject one day, a woman came up to me to ask, “Do you expect us to study the Word of God every day? I think you’re completely and thoroughly un realistic.” I thanked her for her opinion and then suggested, “How long do you spend each day feeding your body?” She estimated that it took about one-and-a-half to two hours a day. I reasoned, “You spend about 20 minutes each week feeding your soul. Your body will die, but your soul never will. Doesn’t it seem strange to say, ‘I have a body that will die, therefore I’ll spend two hours a day feeding it. Yet I have a. soul that never will die, so I’ll spend 20 minutes a week feeding it?’ The emphasis seems odd to say the least.” The problem for most of us is that we don’t want to discipline ourselves to take the time to get into the Word of God. You don’t really believe it is the Word of God or you would read it consistently and regu larly. You would have an appetite for the Scripture. This is thè sad secret and where the trouble comes in. If one of your children doesn’t want to eat, you naturally become concerned. If I meet someone who has no appetite for the Word of God, I know that he is either spir itually dead or spiritually sick. Take time out really to decide if you believe that the Bible is the Word of God. Take time to check on your attitude towards it. Pray about these things, and let the Lord truly speak to your heart. PART II W hile I am here in America min istering, and my wife is over in England with our children, we 10
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