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OPEN THE BOOK! WHEN YOU open your "Bible," or more properly called: the "Scriptures," God speaks! How often are you letting Him talk to you? Though you talk to Him every day when you pray, are you taking some time to listen, too? Don't you agree that it is only right to listen before we talk, so that we can talk more intelligently? And as an elderly brother has said, "That's only showing common courtesy!" The Sacred Scriptures have a life in them which cannot be found in most things. The more you use an automobile, the sooner it will wear out, and the sooner it will lose its value. It is just the opposite with God's Word. Because of the life that is in it, the more you use it, the more useful it becomes, and the more value it takes on. You might compare it to a spring of water coming forth from a mountainside. Perhaps it may only be a trickle when you first discover it, but because it shows signs of life, you take a shovel and open it up and out gushes a stream of clear, mountain water. And the more you make use of this water, the more you open it up, the more the spring will produce. The Sacred Scriptures are a spring, too, and the only way to tap their living waters is to open them up! There are at least five things that can happen every time you open up the Scriptures. They bring you encouragement, guidance, answers to questions, solutions to problems, and true security in Christ. ENCOURAGEMENT The best medicine to cure a spell of the blues is not found on your druggist's shelves, but right on your own bookshelf at home. When you get discouraged, try taking this "prescription." Read Romans 8:28; 8:31; 1 Corinthians 15:58; 16:13,14; 2 Corinthians 2:14; 4:8-10; 5:6-9. Of course there are hundreds of other verses which will be helpful also, this is only a starter. Use your concordance to find them. GUIDANCE Even though you may have a map of your state in the glove compartment of your car, you may still get lost if you do not take it out and look at it. There are many of us who leave our "Bible" on the bookshelf and expect it to guide us from there! That is just like the stupid fellow who had to stumble and crawl through a dark mountain gorge one night, because he forgot he had his flashlight in his pocket! Take your "guidebook" in hand, and let it lead you. Follow in the path it indicates, and you will know where you are going. ANSWERS QUESTIONS Can you look at the world around you without wondering about the things you see? Haven't you ever asked these questions?—Why am I living? What is the purpose of my life? Where am I heading? God has compiled an "answer book" for you to consult, and it is pretty much bound to be right, because when you ask of God, you are asking the Creator Who made heaven and earth, and is sure to know what is in it. SOLVES PROBLEMS Life is just a succession of problems for most of us. But we can easily find their solutions, if we remember to consult God's Word, and let it help us. The first way it helps is to give us a better perspective of our own little problems in relation to God's overall plan for the universe. We can take comfort from His assurance that "He is working all together for the good of those who are loving God" (Rom.8:28). And though there may be many problems that seem too tough for you, remember that there is no problem too great for him. Don't try and shoulder your burdens alone—let Him help. And when things get really rugged, remember that "No trial has taken you except what is human. Now, faithful is God, Who will not be leaving you to be tried above what you are able, but, together with the trial, will be making the sequel also, to enable you to undergo it" (1 Corinthians 10:13). TRUE SECURITY Men have always sought security. They have toiled a lifetime to build vast empires in order to gain it. They have sought it in great wealth. They have attempted to find it in influential friends. Yet your joy in Christ is the best security you'll ever have (Phil.3:1). "Let nothing be worrying you!" the Scriptures tell us (Phil.4:6). Isn't this security? Is there anything that can deprive us of our position, garrisoned by the love of God because we are in Christ Jesus? "Neither death nor life, nor messengers, nor sovereignties, nor the present nor what is impending, nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other creation will be able to separate us from the love of God..." (Rom.8:38). What about the Adversary? Where is our security from him? As a part of our armor, described in Eph.6:13, we are given only one offensive weapon—the same one, we notice, that Christ used Himself when He was tried by the Adversary. "And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is a declaration of God." The Adversary should not worry us as long as we have our sword in our hand. He knows well enough that he is powerless against us when we use it. But, a sword does very little to protect a man when he keeps it in its sheath. He has to draw it and use it to make it effective. That is why you must take your Scriptures off the shelf and start using them now, today. One last word—Like any effective weapon, it will be necessary for you to read the instructions that come with it, before you can use it effectively and in the manner for which it was intended. Don't have to be ashamed of the way you wield the Word of God. "Study to show thyself to be an unashamed workman, correctly cutting the Word of truth" (2 Tim.2:15). And the only way to know where to divide it is to note to whom each portion was written. Read it all, study it all, but apply personally only that part which was written to you! |