The Bible: Living And Breathing

You’ve no doubt heard it said that the Bible is a living, breathing book, but you can’t fully believe that until you experience it for yourself.

When you use a reading plan to read the Bible through in a year, you’re reading the same passages at the same time you did a year ago. The difference, though, is your spiritual growth since then. You definitely aren’t the same person you were 12 months ago, and the Bible isn’t either.

The Holy Spirit illuminates Scripture that we need today. A verse or passage you read last year ddidn’t stand out because your heart didn’t need it then. That’s why we joke that this verse wasn’t in my Bible the last time I read it!

This happpened to me last weeekend when I read this passage in Exodus 13 about the seven days of unleavened bread. Moses told the people that when their children asked them why they have this tradition, that they were to remind the younger generation of how God brought them out of Egypt. It was a memorial, and honoring of the Lord because of His power and mercy.

I’m sure I’ve read this passage every year for years, but this time the phrase “because of that which the Lord did unto me” in verse 8 popped off the page. Moses didn’t tell the people to celebrate their own endurance or sing praises to Aaron and him for going in to talk to Pharaoh. They were to institute the feast of unleavened bread because of God alone.

The second surprise on this page was a note I had written in the margin: The opportunity to give testimony of what God has done. The funny thing is, even though this is my handwriting, I don’t actually remember writing it. I’ve read and written a lot of things in my life, and apparently this was one of them.

The combination of God’s Word and my words touched my heart in ways I never expected. It opened my eyes a little more to all the opportunities we have in any given day to share our testimony with every one we come in contact with. We don’t have to run up to people, grab them by the arm and tell them they’re going to hell, that’s for sure. What we can do is make sure the love of Jesus in our hearts comes out to glorify Him.

So when someone asks you why you do what you do and say what you say, you can answer the way Moses did. Because of what the Lord has done to me.

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