How many of you read your Bible daily? How many say it’s outdated and old-fashioned? How many say you can’t make it fit into today’s lifestyle?
Many people say they don’t read the Bible because they can’t make it fit in with their daily lifestyle, so they just ignore it. Is that how you feel? Is that why you don’t read it?
Well, let’s now take that “old-fashioned” Bible and make it come alive in our world today.
How many of you watch the TV show “CSI”? Well, that premise came from the Bible. Cain killed Abel — there’s your first crime scene. God investigated the crime and questioned Cain about it. What about the show “Law and Order”? In the book of Exodus, Moses received the Ten Commandments — and gave the world guidelines for law and order. Then there’s “Wheel of Fortune” — now that’s a good one to look at. Read the Book of Job and you will see that Job had it all and lost it all. But one thing Job never lost was his trust and faith in God.
How about “Survivor”? On that show, people do a lot of stuff to survive the course and win the prize. Well, let’s look at how the Israelites
survived 40 years in the desert. They were cared for and fed manna (bread from heaven). They survived the trials and tribulations and conquered all they went through. We too are now survivors, and we are working to conquer COVID-19 in addition to all our daily trials and troubles.
Oh, and let’s not forget about love stories that some folks enjoy reading. Read the book of Ruth and you will find a true love story. It’s about a daughter-in-law and mother-in-law. Then read the first four books of the New Testament for the greatest love story ever: Jesus loved us enough to die for our salvation.
And let’s not forget about all you sports fans. Do you enjoy NASCAR? Well, read the book of Joshua and how the Israelites marched around the city of Jericho and blew trumpets — and the walls of the city came tumbling down. Doesn’t that remind you of NASCAR, with cars going around a course and all the accidents where they hit the wall? And there’s always a winner. Oh, and don’t forget baseball, basketball, football and tennis — just to name a few. These can all be related to the story of David throwing the rock that killed the giant, Goliath.
Just look at your Bible in a new way. The more you look and read the stories within it, the better you will be able to relate those ancient events to our modern world.
The Bible is also a book about history and ancestry. Many of us are looking up our ancestry these days, so why not look at the ancestry of Christ and follow it?
Do you dream of going on a cruise? Noah took a 40 day cruise with his family and a boatload of animals. Can you imagine how awesome that was? No land in sight, but those voyagers watched the sun rise and sun set for more than a month as they cruised the floodwaters in the ark. We often take our pets with us on our vacations.
Okay, truckers: Here’s something for you to ponder. You carry freight from shipper to receiver. You are also included in the Bible. Think about how Mary “carried” Jesus to Bethlehem, where she gave birth to him. The Magi carried gold, frankincense and myrrh on their journey to find the Christ child and deliver their gifts to him.
How much more do you need to know about the Bible as it relates to us in our modern times? I think we all need to evaluate our thoughts about the value and worth of the Bible. Bringing it alive today is as easy as reading it and translating it to our modern world. And if you have doubts, just start praying about what you read. Prayer is like our modern-day cellphones, serving as an open line to God. We don’t get a phone bill or need a contract for that prayer line, so use it as much as you want. It’s free service.
Have I given you enough reasons to explore your Bible with a new vision of thought? Have a blessed day by opening your Bible and exploring new ways to make it relatable to today’s world. Enjoy the time you spend with your Bible. You will be amazed at what you will find.
Best of the roads and all gears forward in Jesus,
Rev. Marilou Coins
