A Good Book

The Good Book

If you enjoy reading, you undoubtedly prefer a “good” read, not necessarily a best seller but one engaging or informative enough to finish and to share with a friend or interesting enough to search for other books by the same author.

The Bible “fits that bill.” Even though it is a compilation of books and letters filled with history, poetry, stories, parables, and theology and was written by 40 different authors over many centuries, it follows an amazingly cohesive, central theme of God’s love, justice, and providential interaction with mankind. Its ancient yet astonishing contemporary message is applicable to all people and societies of all times because it addresses humanity’s triumphs, failures and spiritual needs. Adhering to its profound wisdom leads to healthy, productive living. It’s Good News is powerful enough to bring redemption and confidence in an eternal life to all who will receive it.

Psalm 19 is an inspiring segue into this amazing Book. In eleven verses, it espouses a worldview centered on God as humanity’s sovereign Creator and loving Redeemer and begins with recognition and praise for God’s greatness, His love, and His provision for our souls. It proclaims that God’s presence and power are gloriously evident everywhere in creation’s design, governing principles, and purpose. Every human community and heart language can see how wonderfully ordered and powerfully sustained life is and can be drawn to the awesomeness of God.

The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky above proclaims his handiwork…
Day to day pours out speech,
    and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
    whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
    and their words to the end of the world.

The Psalmist notes that God governs the moral/spiritual world through divinely inspired principles which are pure, right, unchanging, and reliable and therefore innately good for us. This Psalm delights in the beauty and perfection of God’s powerful instructions. They are insightful, wholesome guides which “revive the soul,” “make wise the simple,” “bring joy to the heart” and “songs to the soul,” “enlighten the eyes,” and “endure forever.” These valued, convicting, encouraging, principles are to be desired above all else including “much fine gold.” They bring blessings to life and praise to one’s lips because they are “true” and “righteous.” Adhering to these principles keeps one from error, folly, and the domination of sinful living as the Psalmist expressed: “Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me!…Then I shall be blameless and innocent of great transgression.”

Man’s word lacks omniscience and is tainted by bias, but God’s revealed Word is “like fire…and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29) The New Testament claims that it splits the hardest of hearts. It “is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” and “is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” (Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 3:16)

Just as God’s words created the world and the creatures in it, they create His image in us when heeded. Scripture’s revelations have proven to be incredibly powerful, authoritative, and transformative. That is an exciting possibility for all of us because we all need the joyful changes that forgiveness, redemption, and hope bring to our souls.

Is it any wonder that this book is the best seller of all time, selling 19 to 20 million copies annually?

For anybody reading the Bible for the first time, the New Testament books of Mark and John are a great starting point because they focus on the person and teachings of Christ, who is Scripture’s central figure and the prototype for who we are created to be.