I can’t say anything better than the Bible does. I read God’s Word and I am moved to tears, my heart burns within me and I want to cry out to my generation. Oh, read God’s Word! What else is there to do? We can listen to sermons, podcasts, and Bible studies that speak to our spirits. We can read articles, testimonies, and spiritual books that encourage our hearts. But if we don’t read THE WORD, what good do these things do? Maybe we do make decisions based on something from them. That’s fine and dandy. But what if it’s all taken away? Then what? We read and listen to others’ words about God’s Words more than we read and listen to God’s. We’re not learning from God Himself. And really, the only thing that lasts is the Word of God. Of making many books there is no end, but the Word of God is everlasting. He hasn’t changed, and He has communicated specific things — everything we would ever need to know about Who He is and how He works. But we like to rely on others’ interpretations.
It is time for this generation to quit playing around, to stop pretending we know God because we go to church, and simply start seeking Him. “O love the LORD, all ye his saints!” If you love someone, you want to be with them. You want to sit next to them and feel them nearby. FaceTime, Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp – they’re great to use, especially in times of isolation, but it’s totally different to be in someone’s presence. I am looking forward to the day when lockdown is over and I get to hang out with my friends again. I am sure I will never treat those times the same again. I am also quite sure that we don’t know God as well as we could.
God is a Person Who wants to manifest His presence to each one of us. But we can’t know God without reading His Word. I’ve been reading Ecclesiastes and Jeremiah during this time, and I’ve learned so much about man and God and how that relationship tends to go. I cannot find the words to communicate what God has been teaching me. All I can do is point to His Word and say, “read it!” No one can say anything better than the Bible says it. What more can I say? What more can I do but plead for my generation to read the Bible? I read Proverbs 1 today. “Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets . . . How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity?”
We are so easily sidetracked from His Word. We are so easily lured by “harmless” elements of the world. We are so easily distracted by other good things: school, friends, serving others. I’m not saying those aren’t important elements of our spiritual life, but the most important part is often left out: a personal, vibrant, daily, walk with our Savior. How much do you love Him? Do you seek other things or people more than you seek Him? If you can spend two hours watching a Christian video but you can’t spend thirty minutes reading the Bible, something is seriously wrong. Why? Because your relationship with God is not based on whether you are moved by some video, or listen to a good sermon, or read a devotional book! It’s based on what you learn about your God, and what you choose to believe about Him and His work in your life and what He asks you to do, and whether or not you obey Him!
Our lives will never have the impact for God that we want if we do not saturate ourselves with His Word. The Bible is our life’s instruction manual, our soul’s medical diagnostic, our spiritual battle plan. God’s Word “is quick [living], and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). We need answers? The Bible’s got them. Let’s go ahead and read it, more than we ever have. I heard of a challenge to read through the entire Bible in a month. We’re probably gonna be on lockdown for another month or so, so we’ve got plenty of extra time. Instead of browsing the web or whatever you tend to do in your free time, let’s read God’s Word and allow Him to teach us through it. Let’s get to know our Savior in these upcoming days!
Victoria White is a graduate of Baptist College of Ministry and a member of Falls Baptist Church in Menomonee Falls, WI. She has a burden for young people to understand the Bible and to live for God in this world. She has 6 siblings and lives in Germantown, WI.
