Dust it off! Wear it out! It is not your golf clubs, it is not your knitting needles. It is your Bible. If you are reading this by email or on Flatland’s website, and most likely you are, you have no excuse. You can not say you do not have a Bible. https://bible.com, https://biblehub.com, and https://biblegateway.com are just three websites out of many which give you full access to God’s message to us, to God’s desire for us to get to know Him and the love He has for us. bible.com has free reading plans to help guide you read the Bible. BibleHub has great tools to help you learn about what you are reading. No excuses.
Timothy tells us that all Scripture is “God-breathed” or “inspired by God”. This is an interesting word. BibleHub points out that Paul may have coined the Greek word as it isn’t found in any other place. Grammatically, the word indicates that each and every word in Scripture is breathed out by God. It is God talking to us directly through the writers. There is nothing more personal. It is something unique about our God compared to other gods. They sit there in silence, making people guess at what they want (which is nothing since they are nothing) but our God tells us, “I love you! I want you!”
One of the other things about the word “God-breathed” that always strikes me, it is closely related to the Holy Spirit in that “Spirit” comes from the same root word, both in Greek and Hebrew, “wind”. The Holy Spirit was integral in the writing of Scripture. The writers of the Bible allowed the Holy Spirit to flow through them and into what they wrote. The Holy Spirit is still there, ready to flow out of the words and into our hearts and minds. God will change us as we read His Word and open ourselves to Him. So it is time for all of use to start listening to God and allow His Holy Spirit to change us. Dust it off! Wear it out!
Your word, Lord, is eternal;
it stands firm in the heavens.
Your Word is a lamp for my feet,
a light on my path.
You are my refuge and my shield;
I have put my hope in your word.
The unfolding of your words gives light;
it gives understanding to the simple. -Psalm 119
