The Blessing of the Bible

A quick glance at a Christian resource catalog or web-site will show that we certainly do not lack for Bibles! They come in all types of versions, colors, formats, and study helps. And we should be grateful for many of these. But the question remains, “Do I regularly read my Bible or do I take this tremendous blessing from God for granted?”

Recently, I read a very stirring description of God’s Word from the Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck that reminds us of the blessing of the Bible. I would like to share it with you for your encouragement:

“Scripture….is not a book of times long past, which only links us with persons and events of the past. Holy Scripture is not an arid story or ancient chronicle but the ever-living, eternally youthful Word, which God, now and always, issues to his people. It is the eternally ongoing speech of God to us. It does not just serve to give us historical information;….whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope [Rom. 15:4]. Scripture was written by the Holy Spirit that it might serve him in guiding the church, in the perfecting of the saints, in the building up of the body of Christ. In it God daily comes to his people. In it he speaks to his people, not from afar but from nearby. In it he reveals himself, from day to day, to believers in the fullness of his truth and grace. Through it he works his miracles of compassion and faithfulness. Scripture is the ongoing rapport between heaven and earth, between Christ and his church, between God and his children. It does not just tie us to the past; it binds us to the living Lord in the heavens. It is the living voice of God, the letter of the omnipotent God to his creature. God once created the world by the word, and by that word he also upholds it [Heb. 1:2,3]; but he also re-creates it by the word and prepares it to be his dwelling. Divine inspiration, accordingly, is a permanent attribute of Holy Scripture. It was not only ‘God-breathed’ at the time it was written; it is ‘God-breathing.'” (H. Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, ed. John Bolt and trans. John Vriend, 4 vols. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004), I, 384-5)

God’s Word is ever-relevant, ever-fresh, ever-living, ever-true. It is an invaluable gift from God to us His people. The Bible is a blessing, so take it up and read!

“I am the LORD your God…Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it…Oh, that my people would listen to me” — Psalm 81:10, 13