A Life-Changing Experience

Recently a person mentioned a book that is currently a best seller. Her friend told her that reading the book was a life-changing experience. I read the book. It's a book about heaven. It's a good book, much too long, but it definitely is thought-provoking and worth reading.

What caught my attention was that reading of the book resulted in a life-changing experience. I immediately thought of other widely read best sellers that produce the same comment; reading the book was a life-changing experience. Then I tried to think of the last time, or any time for that matter, when I heard anyone say that they read the Bible and it was a life-changing experience. I could only remember the Gideons who came to our church each year and told stories about people whose lives had been transformed by reading bibles placed in hotels and motels. They were tremendously encouraging and inspiring stories about the power of God's Word to transform lives.

Then I wondered; is it possible that the Bible is so readily available, so common, especially if you are a churchgoer, that while we honor it as God's Word, we seldom read it? Reading the Bible is not very exciting is it? And we are all familiar with it, right? We've heard it all before, right? When we read a passage, or hear a passage read, we already know, "the rest of the story." So we need a current best seller to inject something new and exciting into our lives, something that will produce a life-changing experience, right?

When I talk with people about their Bible reading habits I usually hear the same comments. I know I should read the Bible, but I am so busy I just don't have time to do it. Or, the Bible is too long. I don't think I could ever read the whole thing. Or, to be honest, every time I begin reading the Bible I fall asleep. Or, I hate to admit it, but reading the Bible is just boring. I don't get anything out of it.

I have many books on the shelves at my house and many of them have enriched my life. But for me, the Bible is the book that has the greatest life-changing power. Still, I've fallen asleep while reading it. I have found parts of it boring to read. There are some passages that I don't fully understand. Sometimes I have neglected reading it because of a busy schedule. And there have been periods of time when I just didn't feel like reading it and consequently neglected it. But, I have experienced that with hot, best selling books too. I have started reading many of them only to set them aside after a few chapters. So the problem is not limited to bible reading.

So what to do? I can't make decisions for you, so the following comments are aimed at me. First, I will consciously acknowledge that the Bible is God's Word, and that the message contained in it is designed to enable me to understand who God is, and how this relates to my life. Second, I will read books designed to help me understand and apply the message of the Bible in my life, but I will never allow them to replace the Bible as my first source of spiritual truth. Third, I will be honest before God about how I treat the Bible. I will ask for the assistance of the Holy Spirit to develop in me a desire to read the Word and to read it prayerfully and consistently expecting the Holy Spirit to enable me to apply it in my life. Fourth, I will evaluate all other materials I read in relation to the truth in God's Word. Fifth, I will strive, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, to understand what is true and never substitute personal experience for the truth of Scripture.

That's my response. What's yours?

Now, back to the best seller I read. It was just a few pages short of 500. That's not exactly a short read. I wonder if the person who had the life-changing experience actually read the whole book. My guess, and it's just a guess, is that while the opening chapters were interesting and exciting and "life-changing," she didn't read the whole book. Life-changing best sellers come and go, but the Word of God abides forever.