“I have hidden Your Word in my heart
that I might not sin against You.”
-Psalm 119:11
I was standing inside an ancient
Chinese temple in Canton, China when a young university student approached a
member of our group to try out his English. He spoke pleasantly for a few
minutes in broad generalities, and then asked, “Do you have a Bible?”
Caught off guard the tourist replied,
“Not with me, but I have one at home.” “Do you read it?” asked the young man.
Candidly, the tourist said, “No, not much, but it’s there.” Puzzled the Chinese
young man queried, “If you have a Bible, why do you not read it?”
This was no set-up political
interrogation, but the searching of a young man who had been denied religious
freedom all his life, he could not understand how someone could possess
something so rare as a Bible and not read it, let alone study or memorize it.
The Bible is not a religious book
which brings luck to the owner like an amulet or charm. Rather, it is a
textbook on living, a road map that will take you by the foot of the Cross to
heaven’s shore.
The Bible tells us that just as there
are physical laws that govern the universe, there are spiritual laws that
govern our relationship with God. It tells us how to become a Christian, how to
pray so that our prayers are answered, how to live a life that is above the
carnal tug of sensual lust, how to find peace of mind and the assurance that
our sins are forgiven.
The tourist who was asked by the
Chinese youth has a Bible, all right. But the Bible and the leading Character
of the biblical drama had never possessed him. That is the difference. Do not
just possess a Bible, let it possess you.
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