Swapping "pasei Sophia Didakontes...." For The God Who Speaks Our Language. Series

One speaker once said “A bible in the hand is worth two on the shelf”. And when we open the Bible we will find that God doesn’t just speak in our own language - he speaks into our circumstances. As Jesus said in Luke 21:33 “heaven and earth may pass away, but my words will never pass away”. The are lots of first century words preserved in ancient manuscripts of the British library. They are preserved for academics but in many senses they HAVE passed away. But Jesus’s words will never pass away, because they speak in OUR language to OUR circumstances.

If you open the front of a Gideon’s bible for example you will find a list of bible passages to read

- when you are under stress

- when you are looking for a new job

- when you are unemployed

- when you are facing ill health or bereavement.

Whatever our circumstances, God’s Word has something to say. In my homegroup we have been doing a five course on what the bible has to say about the workplace - from why we work, to how we relate to our bosses. Hard to get more practical than that. And that’s all in the bible.

There are passages that help with our marriages, and passages that help with our children.

Whatever our circumstances, God’s Word has something to say.

But there’s a catch.

“A bible in the hand is worth two on the shelf” or perhaps “A bible in the hand is worth a dozen on the shelf”. As St Jerome put it, ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ”. If we want the Word of Christ to dwell in us richly, the catch is, we have to open our bibles: we need to read. We may need help with it, we may need advice with it, but we need to read. We may want to use bible notes, we may want to be part of a homegroup, but we need to read. The read bible is the powerful bible.

My ancestors Henry and William Williams travelled to the ends of the earth so people could hear God speak in their own language. William Tyndale laid down his life, so we could hear God speak in our language. For us it is oh so easy. The bible is more available than at any time in history. It can change our lives …. but ONLY if we read it.

Amen

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