Blog # 49 BIBLE TRUTH -today

BLOG # 49 BIBLE TRUTH - today Did you ever have the experience of reading the list of those on a local school's honor roll, and halfway down the list discover the name of your niece or your neighbor your grandson or the daughter of a fellow choir member? The list was true before it was published in the newspaper. It was also true as it was published. But it is true in still another sense when you read it, recognize someone you know and share in its truth personally through the joy it brings to your heart to know that someone you know and love has accomplished something good. Our experience of reading the bible is similar. What the Bible tells us of God and creation, of the people of God and of Jesus was true even before it was written in the Bible. It is true also as it was written. But it is true in still another sense when we read it, believe it or make it our own, and discover there someone we know and love, our neighbors, and our very selves. When we understand and continually remember the Bible was written for us it has great power in our lives. "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" The answer becomes "Yes". It is possible to forget the Bible was written for us, here and now, at the very moment we are reading it. We hear Jesus telling the crowds of Palestine to pray to the Lord of the harvest that He send laborers into the harvest field. Do we realize these words of Jesus were addressed to us? When was the most recent time you prayed on your own that holy and zealous ministers of the Gospel be raised up here in America, where the harvest is waiting? We hear the words of Jesus telling us "Blessed are the merciful..." yet it is so easy to be lacking in mercy when we are offended, only to see the need for mercy in others, seldom praying to the Holy spirit for the gift of a merciful generous and patient heart for ourselves. We hear Jesus telling us not to worry about what we are going to eat or drink, or what we are going to wear. "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His goodness and all these thing will be given you besides." How easy it is to read this passage to someone else, and how easy it is to forget it was spoken to us. Many of us these days are rightfully concerned about smog and air pollution in our cities, the pollution of our seas and rivers, and the pile-up of solid waste across the country. Even here we tend to discover what others can do, where they have caused the problem, and we find it easy to overlook the fact each one of us is part of the whole human family on earth and that we are called by God to assume our fair share of the responsibility for the present condition of the globe and of the initiative and action that will improve our world in the future. The Bible told me that. ( Genesis 2 : 15 - 17 )