The Precious Word of God
by Ben Fronczek
In our society it so easy to take what we have for granted. I see kids getting so many toys, piles of toys for Christmas when they already have boxes and shelves if not a room full of toys. One more toy is just one more. I saw kids at XMAS opening their presents so fast, looking at what they got for a couple of seconds then throwing it aside so that they could open another.. As adults in America we aren’t much different. Look at the choices of food we have in the grocery store, the abundance of clothes and things that we have available to us. Some of us have so much ‘stuff’ we can’t even fit it in our homes and some have to rent storage units just to store all their stuff. We even have a smorgasbord of Christian churches we can choose from. If you don’t like one, you can pick another. In many ways we are very blessed but also very spoiled
I recently finished a book written by Wayne Cordeiro called, THE DIVINE MENTOR. Within it he tells a true story which I would like to share with you. It goes as follows:
A few years ago I made a teaching trip to China. Twenty leaders of the house church movement from a nearby province came together for leadership training. I was told to be ready to stand up at 8:00 A.M. and teach until 6:00 P.M. – thankfully, with a short break for lunch. We’d repeat the regiment for three days. It was fatiguing, demanding, and one of the most moving experiences of my life.
They endured a 13 hour train ride. Meeting at a predetermined location, they arrived alone or in twos so as not to arouse suspicion. Gathering together in a small, stifling room, they sat cross-legged on a wooden floor. Most were humble farmers. Every face was weathered with deep lines that held stories of profound trial and supernatural perseverance.
Sometimes when you speak to a large group, you hope that 20 to 25 percent (on a good day) will actually absorb what you’re saying. In this group, it was every person in the room!
The huge smiles on all the faces brightened their simple clothing. They were hungry and eager to hear from the narrators of the Bible. Their eagerness would extract the best from me. They were soaking in everything as though they would never be in such a meeting again…. Which was certainly a possibility. When they raised their hands to worship, I saw at least one man with scars from the shackles that had been his companions in prison.
Shortly after we began, to get us more acquainted, I asked them to say a little about who they were. One reported with joy that he’d just been released from serving his fifth 3 year term in jail.
His crime? Faith in an unseen Messiah. “How many others of you have spent time in prison for your faith?” I asked. 18 of the 20 raised their hands. “If government authorities discovered this non-registered religious meeting, what would happen?”
They answered, “Each would be given a 3 year prison sentence, and I would be deported within 24 hours.” “Aren’t you afraid?” I inquired. “No.” they said with a quiet confidence. “We are not afraid, and if you teach us for another day, we will stay.”
I commended them for their faith, all the while wondering why they weren’t teaching me instead of the other way around.
Since I knew that each of these veteran saints oversaw large numbers of house churches, I continued my ‘let’s–get–acquainted’ session by asking, “How many people do you oversee in all the house churches, combined?”
After a moment of quiet calculation, one spoke up.. “22 million.” I couldn’t believe I’d heard what I just heard. “22 million?” I stammered. “Yes,” he nodded. “22 million.”
After a few moments, I caught my breath and launched into teaching. We brought 16 Bibles to pass out, leaving a few of the leaders to share with one another. I had them turn to 2 Peter 1. As we were about to read it out loud, one elderly woman handed her Bible to another leader. I thought that a bit strange, since Bibles were so scarce, but I didn’t call attention to the matter.
After we began to read, I understood why she had willingly given up her Bible. She quoted the whole chapter from memory! During a short break, I asked her how she memorized so much scripture. ”I have much more memorized,” she replied through one of the interpreters.
“But how did you memorize so much,” I asked, “when there are so few Bibles available?” “In prison,” she said.
Pushing back, I went on, “But if you had a Bible, wouldn’t they confiscate it right away?” “Yes,” she answered. “So people brought me scriptures written on pieces of paper.”
“And what if the guard found you with those?” I pressed. “Wouldn’t they take those away as well?” “Yes. That’s why I memorized the scriptures as quickly as I could. You see, they can take away the paper, but they cannot take away what I have already hidden in my heart.”
By the end of the two days, I had fallen in love with this part of God’s family. Realizing my own inadequacy to help them in their daunting task of reaching China, I asked them in our final session together; “How can I pray for you?”
“Pray that we may become like you,” was their immediate request. One of my new found friends continued: “We do not have freedom of religion. We have only a few registered churches, and when the pews are filled, they turn the others away. But in your country, you can gather whenever you like.” He concluded by saying again, “Pray that we can one day be like you.”
I shook my head sadly. “I can’t do that. I can’t pray for you in that way.” “But why?” they asked incredulously.
With a sigh, I explained. “You came here after riding 13 hours on a train . In America, if church is more than thirty minutes away, people won’t go. It’s too far. You have been sitting on a wooden floor without air conditioning for three day. Where I come from, if people can’t sit on cushioned chairs and be in comfort of air conditioning, they find better things to do. You don’t have adequate Bibles, so you memorize Scriptures from pieces of paper. In America Christian homes have multiple Bibles per family, but we don’t always read them. No,” I said. “I will not pray that you become like us. But I will pray … that we become like you!”
After telling this story in his book, the author goes on to share some observation and insights. He goes on to write,
‘Why did these Chinese leaders take such a huge risk, gathering as a group to study God’s word? Why did they value the Bible’s wisdom so much that they placed their very lives in jeopardy in order to listen to the Lord’s voice? Because they know by experience the Word’s power and truth….. The leaders understand that the Bible is like no other book in the world. They recognize its matchless authority as well as its supernatural ability through the Spirit to speak truth directly into our hearts so that we are enabled, literally, to become more like Christ. No other book compares with the Word of God!’ (The Divine Mentor pages 165-168)
Today I cannot over emphasize the importance of what is in this book. But unfortunately too often we take what we have readily available to us for granted.
As we begin this new year I want to encourage you to pick up your Bible and look at it, and treat it like it’s your most precious possession; like a great treasure, more important than any other material possession that you own…Why? Because quite frankly that’s what it is. That’s how those Chinese people treat the word of God… as something precious, and beyond value.
This book has been given to us by God. It has been divinely protected through the ages like no other book. God has protected it and it has come down to you & me for a reason; not just to put it on a shelf, or set out on a stand like some kind of decoration, but rather I believe He wants us to read it.
Even though there are many, I want to at least share with you a few reasons why you should make a practice to pick this book up and read it every day.
#1) It is where you can get to know your God, our Father. It’s one to know about someone, its quite another to really knowsomeone. Within the pages of the Bible you can get a good idea of who He is, what He likes, what He dislikes, even what He wantsand expects of you. Within the pages of the Bible you hear God’s voice, Him speaking to you. His words cut right through the religious confusion of this world and lays the truth right out.
You can come to know the difference between what truly is, and what isn’t as far as God is concerned by reading this book. In the past Bank tellers were trained to detect counterfeit $100 bills by putting them in a room where they were shown the real thing. They went to classes where they were taught the almost indistinguishable, almost imperceptible patterns in the real article. The tellers would smell the genuine bills, run their fingers across the fibers and ink. Then when the trainers thought the tellers were ready they tested them. They’d put the tellers in front of a conveyor belt loaded with genuine bills. The supervisor would periodically insert a counterfeit bill on the belt to test them. The tellers would immediately recognize that something was wrong with those particular bills. How did they recognize the counterfeit bills so quickly? Was it because they studied the fakes? No, rather it was because they took a lot of time studying and examining the real thing.
There is a lot of spiritual and religious confusion in the world today. You will not have to worry about it if you spend enough time in God’s divinely preserved word. You will recognize the counterfeit teaching if you spend enough time with the real article.
#2) Another good reason you should read your Bible everyday is because you are influenced by those you spend time with.
Proverb 13:20 says, “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.”
God has provided a host of divine mentor for you and me to spend time with. You can learn from their victories as well as from their failing. People like Joseph, Daniel, Abigail, Mary, Ruth, Joshua, Ester, David, Elijah, Solomon, Peter, John … especially from Jesus Himself. You can save yourself from all kinds of trouble and heart ache if you learn from these people. You can even find short cuts to success and happiness if you learn from them as well.
God wants to mentor us through these people.
This will in-turn help us to make better decisions in our life.
#3) I believe it’s important to read God’s word every day because the words within are divine and are alive and will lead to an abundant and fruitful life.
They not only show the way to salvation, they also help complete us.
Jeremiah wrote, “Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart…”
In Psalm 1 David wrote, “Oh, the joys of those who do notfollow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. 2 But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. 3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.” (NLT)
God’s word will refresh you when you feel weak. His word will encourage you when you feel down or when trails come your way. God’s word will also repromand you when you start getting off track and start doing things that are bad for you. God’s word will also teach you how to live and be happy and find peace in your life. Jesus said that God will also prune you so that you will be even more productive than you already are. God will do that as you read His word and you become convicted about certain things. God’s word will prepare you for all kinds of situations and temptations.
In Closing: I challenge you to pick a special time each day and begin reading God’s word. Do it with something else you like to do. I enjoy reading God’s word with a good cup of coffee in a quiet place in the morning, so that’s when I read. Also start writing your thought down; make a journal entry about what you read and how you can apply it. If you are like me I forget a lot of good thoughts I have after I read something good. Keeping a journal of these thoughts are a good way to help you remember them.
God’s word will change your life to the better, I promise! So read your Bible everyday!
For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566
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