Read The Bible

e-Sword Screen (Capture)

I used to have a lovely graphic of an open Bible - but it's on my old computer, which still holds a bunch of stuff I have yet to transfer. There is a possibility it will live beyond me and either be trashed, erased, or completely ignored. The more digital material this world gains, the greater the loss because we don't get it shared.

Why do I mention this? Because I want you to read the Bible. I really do not care if it is printed or digital. I use e-Sword on both my phone and my personal computer because I got used to it, and it's been around for decades. Well written, every free translation is available free of charge, and lots of purchasable translations are also available. There is a copy of the Strong's Hebrew and Greek available - I use it with my King James Version. Yes - I still use the old KJV, but not the first KJV, and I'm not against using the NKJV or even other translations. I do suggest doing parallel Bibles to find out what is "missing" from the Textus Receptus used for the original KJV (that is very hard to read! I had a copy.)

Reading aloud from the same version during a lesson is helpful for a class situation, and I suggest that first for brand new readers of the Bible. Some people find any version difficult. Often because they find something there that means their life will change.

I promise you, it will. It will change because you know more than you did before and you will be required to make a decision: Is the Bible accurate?

Is it? No - you don't have to send me a note with your answer. Just be aware that I know there will be two different answers reached: 1) No, this cannot possibly be right; or, 2) Yes! this is is what I've been seeking.

In fact, if you have e-Sword you can do a search in the free KJV for "seek the Lord" and you'll see that phrase in 27 different verses. First one is:

But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. (Deuteronomy 4:29)

But that single verse means nothing if you don't know where "But if from thence thou shalt" means. So now you know that verses do not stand alone. They are in context. However, if from thence iyou seek the Lord thy God, you are told thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all the heart and with all thy soul. In this one verse, there are conditions. God has conditions. If you seek Him, He will be found.

And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD. (2 Chronicles 12:14)

Who decided not to find out if God existed? You'll have to read this one in context, too. That twelfth chapter of 2 Chronicles pretty much lays out what happens when someone decides to ignore God completely. You have that capability. Everyone does. It is possible to leave this world without believing God exists. And that is why I have spent decades encouraging Bible reading. 

Know what you are giving us. Learn things outside of the Bible. Look up Pascal's Wager, and read people who laughed at it. Then read the Bible to find out what they turned down:

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:14-18)

When first reading that third chapter of John, you are introduced to Nicodemus, who has come to Jesus asking questions. Those who come to the Bible for the first time have plenty of questions - and those of us who read it are ready to answer questions. We've been prepared for some time only because we've continiued to read, study, and pray over what is in the Bible. Took thousands of years to write down what was there - and although there have been tons of books written sense, there is no need for more information than what is written there. The Bible is filled with complete fulfilled prophecy - and with some that is yet to be fulfilled. But it should not be added to, nor subtracted from:

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: (Revelation 22:17-18)

I have read about the plagues. I will not add anything to the book. I send people to do their own reading. I suggest they read with prayer and a spirit of seeking God. The last verse to use the "seek the Lord" phrase is the only one in the New Testament:

That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: (Acts 17:27)

The words of Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, Savior of mankind, Lamb of God, Prince of Peace, can be found in red in many of the printed and digital Bibles. Take them seriously when you consider:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (2 Timothy 3:16)