I’m living proof, along with 2 billion other people in the world, that a truly special book can and will change lives.
And I’m not talking about the Harry Potter series.
I’m talking about this book.
I will never forget, reading this very Bible, the first time I read the account of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet and being blown away that a man of such power, deserving of all honor and glory, would bend over and wash 24 dirt-covered feet. Or being in China as a new believer and reading Paul’s letters for the first time, amazed that God had taken someone so destructive and messed up, redeemed him, and used him to help communicate the true Gospel and spread it to the entire world.
Most nights that first summer in China were spent lying on a bed with my iPod on and this Bible open.
Through this book and God using it to speak to me and mold me in a multitude of different ways, my heart has been rearranged word by word, and my life realigned sentence by sentence. It hasn’t always been a quick change, but I’d like to think that the people that know me best can attest to the fact that it’s been a significant change.
One of the problems with self-help books is that their aim is too low. Sure, maybe something you read to help your anger problem or your addiction will give you a few practical things to do to help manage those things, but as soon as you plug one hole, another one appears.
When thinking about certain people in my life and where they’re at right now, I’ve sometimes had the thought that, “They just don’t see a need for God right now.” The problem with that is that they don’t know what they’re capable of, what they’ve been created for, or who they’re intended to be. They’re content to plug the holes with self-help books, entertainment, or alcohol because their vision for their lives is like a man wandering through the Sahara Desert and assuming that’s all there is. If they would just look a little further they would see a great, blue expanse and much more to discover on the other side.
That’s what reading the Bible is often like for me. My vision for life and myself is too low, and while it’s turned out that reading the Bible has revealed that my hurt, my issues, and my depravity go way deeper than I initially thought, it’s also turned out that life is far more precious and meaningful and God infinitely more gracious and loving than I could have ever imagined. And this God has a purpose for my life that far exceeds self-help books and anything that Hollywood can think up.
So if you’re content with the Sahara Desert, leave the Bible on the shelf.
