Who Needs the Bible?

There's a young man I know who is trying hard to grow up and become an adult. He often listens to my advice and abides by my older and wiser views, however, as with most young men he just as often tries to do things his own way. I don't think it's so much because he doesn't trust my advice, but rather that he just wants to step out on his own. Win or lose, he wants the personal fulfillment of going it alone. It's difficult to watch someone you love make mistakes, especially when you've warned him well in advance. Along with the pain of watching the failure take place, is the hurt pride of ignored guidance. Wouldn't it be better if young people would simply ask older people what direction to go? Wouldn't young lives be much easier if adult guidance were followed to the letter?

As much as I hate to admit it, young people are better off not following every bit of advice given to them by adults, even if that advice is good advice. Many of the greatest lessons I have learned have been from failure. Had I followed the advice of my elders, I might have succeeded at the task at hand, but I probably would have missed a great learning experience. One day in the future I'll face a similar situation, and there will be no one around to ask for help; however, because I suffered failure in the past, I will clearly remember those mistakes and easily move toward success.

Failure can be a great learning experience, however, continued failure will lead to destruction. Sooner or later we need to take someone else's advice. It is sometimes necessary to put pride behind us and listen to wise counsel. I was constantly avoiding spiritual counseling before I became a Christian. I thought I knew everything there was to know about my internal peace and my spiritual well-being. I certainly did not need some ancient, antiquated, mythical book of wildly concocted stories to guide me through life. I felt I was too smart to have to lean on the Bible for every decision in my life -- I was wrong!

My life would go along smoothly for a while; I'd be having fun enjoying my existence in the world, then I'd run into a blockade, or setback. Some kind of stumbling block would throw everything out of balance. I often wondered why I was being tripped up. Why did my fun have to be ruined? Sometimes these obstacles would be very difficult to maneuver around, but I always managed to get past them. It wasn't until I encountered an obstacle so huge, a hole so deep that I could not see anyway out, that I finally realized my stubborn self-control was destroying me. Like my young friend, I had to be hit on the head before I realized I needed a crash helmet.

I've spent many hours explaining how I feel about Jesus Christ and the Bible. I did this so that others might see the importance of coming to know God. I don't want you to let this world drag you into a deep pit. I don't want you to get hit on the head by anything. I want you to come in for advice before you get into serious trouble. My hope is that these writings have sparked your interest in the teachings of Jesus and the Bible. As I've said over and over, no man can introduce you to the spiritual truths of the Word of God, only God Himself can do that. My writing is intended to be an arrow pointing you in the right direction, pointing you toward the Bible, God's Word, which is of more value than anything this world has to offer.

There is a great old story about a man who decides it would be fun to jump off of a fifty story building and fly like a bird. About half way down, a guy on the twenty-fifth floor sticks his head out the window and shouts, "How is it?" The man falling to the ground says, "It's great so far." That's the way life is in this world; it's great until you hit the ground. When I went through a period of deep depression in my life, I felt like I hit the ground from fifty stories up. I felt like I was about to die. Luckily, I found a Savior. Had I found Him sooner, I might have avoided such a hard fall. Had I been following God's direction for my life, He probably would have guided me around that nearly fatal crash. Of course, Christians still face difficult times; however, these times are used as training and spiritual strength-building exercises rather than paths to destruction. Those of you who work-out on a regular basis know that it's easier to stay in shape than to get back into shape after a long lay-off. Had I been following God's spiritual fitness program, there would have been no need for the intensive rebuilding I went through during my depression. I could have avoided spiritual injury, had I been training properly.

Living your life for God will also take away the empty places in your life. Rather than living from one fun thing to the next, jumping from island to island, hoping never to get caught in the sea of boredom, God can give you constant direction. Following Jesus is a twenty-four hour experience; you will no longer feel trapped by your circumstances, because God will always offer you a way of escape. Rather than a life of separate events, your life becomes one long, continuous event -- never stopping, always moving forward. Life on this earth is only a momentary stop for Christians; from here we go on into eternity. Our lives are always looking forward to that wonderful day when Jesus will return for us. Our lives are focused on preparing ourselves for that day.

Everything that happens in the life of a Christian is a valuable tool for building spiritual character. Without going into great detail, let me just say that heaven will not be the same for every Christian. Some will receive great reward and some will receive little reward. Everyone who believes in Jesus Christ is going to heaven, and it's going to be a wonderful place for us all; in addition, there will be rewards in heaven. The extent of your reward is determined by the works you do in this lifetime.

"For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with his angels; and will then recompense every man according to his deeds." (Matthew 16:27)

For this reason, every moment here on earth is a chance to build a storehouse of good deeds, which will be our foundation for reward when Christ returns. The third chapter of the book of First Corinthians tells us that our work will be tested by fire. The analogy drawn is that good works are like gold, silver, and precious stones, and will not burn. Inferior works are those made of hay and straw, which will be consumed by fire. When Christ returns, all your works will be thrown into the fire -- good and bad -- and whatever comes out of the fire, whatever has not been consumed, will be the weight which determines your reward.

If any man's work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:14-15)

Even if nothing is left after the fire, you will still be saved if you are truly a believer; however, there is no reward. Study this section of First Corinthians for yourself (3:10-15), and you will clearly see that we each receive reward based on our works.

So we see that there will be reward in heaven, and that every moment here on earth is a chance to build a foundation of works which will endure the fire of judgment. Good works come from the heart; even if you are sitting around doing nothing, you can be storing up good works in your heart. All truly "good" works originate in the heart. Here is a little story that Jesus told to illustrate that it is more important to have a humble heart than it is to do all the right physical works:

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican

"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself; 'God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God be merciful to me, the sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted."

Luke 18:10-14

Even though the Pharisee was a religious man who practiced good works, he was not justified, as was the tax-gatherer. The Pharisee's works did not come from the heart, they came from self-centered ambition -- he just wanted to look good before the Lord. Of course this is silly, because God can see past your works into your heart. God could see that the tax-gatherer's heart was in the right place, therefore he was justified.

It is on the inside of a person that real change takes place. You can take a murderer and dress him in police uniform, but that does not change who he really is -- he is still a murderer! An evil person can go to church, read the Bible, and teach Sunday school, however, those things do not mean anything to God unless they are accompanied with a pure heart. For this reason it is difficult for us to tell real Christians from phony Christians. As mere men we are unable to see what is inside someone else's heart, however, we can see our own heart. You know where your heart is. You know if your own heart is focused on God or on yourself. God wants your heart to be focused on Him, and beyond that, He wants your heart to be focused on the needs of your neighbor. If your heart is focused on God and love for your neighbor, you will receive reward, not only in heaven, but present day reward, in the form of peace of mind and a joy-filled life.

Because real Christianity is internal, and therefore difficult to discern, it is easy for false teachers to pretend to be looking out for your interests, while filling their own pockets. This is why I must stress over and over that we have to study the Bible ourselves. We have to absorb the Word of God, alone with God, to be sure we are receiving honest teaching. Only careful personal study will give you the ability to distinguish honest Bible teachers from phony Bible teachers. There is no way for you to know if what I have been telling you about the Bible is true unless you read the Book yourself. The Bible is not as complicated and confusing as this world makes it out to be. Anyone with average intelligence can read the Bible and clearly understand what it is teaching. It is only when the Bible is chopped up into pieces, and studied in disjointed sections, that it seems confusing. Yes, Christianity is complex. There is a lot to be learned, as there would be in any book of this size, but the material is clearly laid out and easily understood, if you start at page one and read all the way to the end.

The world has tried to hide the truth of the Bible with false teachers, cult leaders, and with the manipulation of our fleshly desires. This world, controlled by Satan, wants the truth of the Bible to go unnoticed. Because so few people have ever studied the Bible from cover to cover, it is easy for a clever counterfeit to twist that which is written in the Bible to fit his goal of selfish gain. As we approach the end of this age, more and more false teachers will emerge. Unless you know the book yourself, these false teachers may deceive you or lead you away from the truth by associating themselves with the Bible. Please don't turn away from the Bible because you have seen unscrupulous men cling to it. Don't allow the world to divert your attention from the truth by disguising it as something else. Underneath all the worldly camouflage is a simple book that anyone can understand, and once understood can lead you to eternal life.

Does it really make good sense to ignore such a claim? If this claim is true, the cost of passing it by is enormous! Don't allow this world to rob you of your eternal existence. Get a hold of a good Bible and read it!

The naive believes everything, but the prudent man considers his steps. A wise man is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is arrogant and careless. (Proverbs 14:15-16)

You don't have to believe in God to see that the above words are full of wisdom. Do not carelessly ignore the most valuable book ever written. Cautiously consider every page and you will receive an eternal reward.

"There's a young man I know who is trying hard to grow up and become an adult. He often listens to my advice and abides by my older and wiser views, however, as with most young men he just as often tries to do things his own way." That is the human experience. We all want to do things our way, especially here in America. In fact, we have laws which protect our freedom to live life as we see fit. As long as we don't step on anybody else's toes, we can do whatever we want. It's a free country! We have allowed that freedom to turn us into an arrogant people. We think we know it all -- even when it's clear that we know very little. How many times have we told our children, "Don't do that or you'll get hurt," only to find them doing that very thing we warned against, and getting hurt sometime soon after? It's sad when you can clearly see someone on the road to destruction and that person will not heed your well-intentioned advice.

In America, we've been bombarded with too much contradictory information. Even as parents we have confused our kids by telling them not to drink alcohol, when we drink it every day. We tell them not to use drugs when we use Tylenol, caffeine, Valium and other legal drugs every day. We tell our children to abstain from pre-marital sex, and then we send them out to see movies in which everybody is having sex with everybody else. Plus, we bombard them with sexual messages on TV, in magazines, and in the music they listen to. Some of us tell our children that God is the most important thing, yet they are not allowed to even mention His name in a public school. Some of us tell our kids that God is not important, yet when we get into real trouble, we look up at the sky and ask for God's help. Everyone in the world says peace is the most important thing, yet seldom a day passes without someone being killed in war. People are starving all over the world, perhaps right here in my city, yet I have food in my refrigerator that will go bad before I have a chance to eat it. None of this makes sense!

It's a crazy mixed-up world we live in, and it's not surprising to find people ignoring God and going their own way. I chose that direction for myself for thirty years. For thirty years of my life I did exactly what I wanted to do. I tried not to step on anyone's toes, but if you got in my way I would politely move you aside and keep on going. I learned early that if you want something you have to go and get it for yourself; no one is going to bring happiness to you on a silver platter. My attitude was, "You have to take happiness." I felt that if you were unhappy, it was your own fault for not going out and getting what you needed. I always had to have something outside of myself to make me happy: a new car, a new surfboard, a new girlfriend. These external things were my "god." They were the things that gave me "peace of mind." Without them, I was lost. There is a certain type of shark that has to continuously move through the water or it will die. I was like that shark -- if I did not continually feed my external "happiness" needs, I would, in a sense, die. I would become overcome with boredom and frustration, followed by depression, and unless I was able to attain more of my material god, I would fall deeper and deeper into that depression.

Boredom, frustration, and depression are no longer a problem for me; they are still part of my life but they are not a problem. I now live with the real God! I no longer need to keep moving like a shark to stay alive. I can now sit still and feel the presence of the one true God inside me. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, I have constant peace of mind. I no longer have to go out and take my happiness. I have a never-ending well of happiness flowing up inside of me. Jesus Christ died for me, and it is through Him that I have access to the one true God. I cannot introduce you to God the Father, only Jesus can do that, and He does that through His Word, the Bible. I urge you with all my heart to look closely at this much abused book and judge for yourself the value of its content.