Nov 6.97: Light For The Day - "The Bible (2)"

"The grass withers and the flowers fall, 
but the word of our God stands for ever." 
-- Isaiah 40:8 (RSV)

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"The Bible"

Century follows century -- there it stands.
Dynasty succeeds dynasty -- there it stands.
Empires rise and fall and are forgotten -- there it stands.
Kings are crowned and uncrowned -- there it stands.
Storms of hate swirl about it -- there it stands.
Atheists rail against it -- there it stands.
Profane, prayerless punsters caricature it -- there it stands.
Unbelief abandons it -- there it stands.
Thunderbolts of wrath smite it -- there it stands.
The flames are kindled about it -- there it stands. 

-- Selected 

The Bible is a great treasury of reserved blessing.
There has not been a chapter, a line, a word, added
to it since the pen of inspiration wrote the final Amen;
yet every new generation finds new things in this 
Holy Book. How true it is in every individual
experience. 

As younger people we study the Bible, but many of the
precious verses have little or no meaning for us. The
light, the comfort, the help are all there, but we do not
see it. We cannot see it until we have a fuller sense of
need. The rich truths seem to be hiding away, refusing
to disclose their meaning. 

When we begin to experience the struggles, trials, and
conflicts of real life, then the new senses begin to reveal
themselves in the old familiar sentences. Promises that
seemed as if they were written in invisible ink now begin
to glow with rich meaning, flash out like newly lighted
lamps, and pour bright beams upon the path of life. 
The light is not new. It had shone there all the while, but
could not be seen until now because other lights were
shining about obscuring this one.

Daniel Webster once said that he "believed that the Bible
is to be believed and understood in the plain and obvious
meaning of its passages; for I cannot persuade myself that
a book intended for the instruction and conversion of the
whole world should cover its true meaning in any such
mystery and doubt that none but critics and philosophers
can discover it."


Prayer:
Let the enlightenment of the riches of Your Word
sink deep within my soul, Lord.

Reading the Bible has a purifying effect upon
the heart and mind. -- Billy Graham

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"Hear, my son, and accept my words,
that the years of your life may be many. 
I have taught you the way of wisdom;
I have led you in the paths of uprightness. 
When you walk, your step will not be hampered;
and if you run, you will not stumble."
-- Proverbs 4:10-12 (RSV)

"All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training
in righteousness, that the man of God may be
complete, equipped for every good work."
-- 2Timothy 3:16,17 (RSV)-

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