BIBLE READING

Acts 2: 42

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

2 Timothy 3: 12-17

In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

REFLECTION

A church minister once dropped by to visit a family from his congregation. When he arrived, the mother of the house, wanting to make a good impression, said to her daughter, “Honey, who don’t you go and get that good book that we all love so much.” She left the room and came back with the Argos catalogue.

In the days of the early church here in Acts, they didn’t have a Bible like we have today because the New Testament hadn’t been written yet. But most of the New Testament was written by these Apostles over the next 20 years as they began to put down on paper the life of Jesus and wrote letters of instruction to various churches they planted and so on. So when it says they were "devoted to the apostles teaching", it means they were devoted to knowing more about the nature, character and ways of God, more about how they can follow Christ faithfully and obediently, more about how they could be fully committed Christians who represent Jesus well in a hostile world.

For us today, all we need to know about God is contained in the Bible. God hasn’t left us to figure out for ourselves what He’s like or what He wants us to do. God has given us His Word which contains everything we need to know about Him and His will for us.

The Bible is no ordinary book, it is God’s Word. It’s not like reading a John Grisham novel or a Harry Potter book. This book is inspired by God, every page has been breathed on by the Holy Spirit as men and women have written down what God has told them to say.

Hebrews 4:12 puts it like this:

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword....it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

This is not just ink on a page, this is living, it does work in our lives when we take it in, it changes us, it becomes part of us and transforms us.

For too many Christians, the only exposure they get to the Bible is on a Sunday in church, and they think that will keep them going for the rest of the week. That’s the equivalent of saying, "I ate my Sunday lunch so I’ll not need to eat again until next Sunday." Very soon you’ll find yourself unhealthy, hungry and getting sick!

We need to feed on God’s word every day. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 4:4:

“Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

That's why I started JesusCentred.Life - to help people access God's Word daily for themselves and apply it to their lives. The Word will do the work if we open our minds and hearts to what God would say.