According to Guinness World Records, the Bible is the best-selling book of all time, with over 5 billion copies sold and distributed. With these astounding numbers, it amazes me that our society still tends to discount much of what is written in the Bible.
I once heard a pastor say that we treat the Bible like a buffet table; we only take what we want and leave the rest on the table. This is so incredibly true. The problem with this is that 2 Timothy 3:16 states that all scripture is given by God; therefore, if He gave “all” scripture, we must follow “all” scripture. Unfortunately, we as parents often live our lives in a partial following, and we do this in front of our children. When we attempt to teach our children to follow God’s word, we have then been deemed hypocrites because we do not follow what God’s word says. This leads to a whole other issue: How can we follow what God’s word says if there’s a lack of knowledge of what the Bible says?
Whether you are a new or a mature Christian, do not despair if you feel that you do not know everything in the Bible. My statements are not to make anyone feel inadequate, but my comments are used to enlighten you in the body of Christ to seek out more. We each can go into God’s word and search and dig for answers to help our families. When we don’t know, God says to ask. Stop and pray before reading His word and ask him to open your ears and heart to digest and understand His word.
I often wonder if we do that in our humanness because we don’t want to be confronted with what our sin may look like in the light, or we genuinely don’t know how to find the answers because God’s Bible is so overwhelming. I remember being a new Christian and thinking that there are so many things here that I don’t know and that I will never measure up to the person who is a biblical scholar. But God quickly changed my heart and mind to understand that if my eyes are fixed on Him, He will guide me to the passages, He will guide me to where He wants me to read, and He will guide me to understanding.
I began to be so hungry for God’s word that just looking within the text wasn’t enough. I needed a study Bible that would take me deep into the history, deep into the back story of each of the wonderful individuals that walked during biblical times. I began to have a quest to find out why certain things happened. God continued to grow me in faith and grow me in knowledge-based upon my sitting at His feet.
I have a question for you. How often do your children see you reading the Bible? It’s harder today to really answer that question because of all the electronic methods to access the Bible. I’m a techie geek, and my Bible is on my iPad. So very often, when I am in scripture and looking at certain things, I’m reading my Bible on my iPad. Traditionally, when you see a parent sitting with a leather-bound Bible in their hand, the child understands that the parent is now sitting at Jesus’ feet reading, learning, and gleaning. Now, you can’t tell if they are in their Bible or if they’re playing Angry Birds. Therefore, I would recommend that you share with your child when you’re reading your Bible on your iPad something that God has spoken to you at that moment.