I’ve always been a lover of books. Growing up in the 1950s, my life in MidAmerica was safe, predictable, and often boring. So I found my escape in books. Walking into a library back in those days was intoxicating. I can still remember the smell that assaulted you the minute you walked through the big, heavy doors. It was like the bound pages beckoned you, promising to deliver new information, adventures, or time with your favorite characters. Today, pulling up a book to read on Kindle just doesn’t hold the same kind of expectation.

Those who love reading are well acquainted with the many genres we can choose from, depending upon our mood. Sometimes we’re just looking for amusement. Other times, we’re after “how to” instruction to hone our careers, crafts, or hobbies. Historical accounts of events and people provide inside scoops on how things really went down. But we’re especially drawn to stories that stretch our imagination, fire our interest, and enable us to experience vicariously what we’ll never experience in real life. This impulse explains the appeal of soap operas, murder mysteries, thrillers, sci-fi, romance, and fantasy. We enjoy escaping into a world not our own.

Ecclesiastes 12:12 declares, “Of making many books there is no end.” In recent years, we’ve seen this truth become evident in brand new ways. Thanks to the option of self-publishing, it’s been reported that in the U.S. alone over 4 million new books were published in 2022!

There is one book, however, that stands on its own. Its appeal isn’t centered around its sensationalism or inside scoops, though it does contain some of that. It’s not a “how to” book on how to achieve godliness, happiness, or success. Depending upon what part of it we’re reading and what our heart condition is, this book elicits various responses in us. Sometimes we love it and other times we resent it. That’s because this book—unlike any other—can simultaneously comfort, disturb, confuse, enlighten, challenge, stretch, correct, confront, and encourage us. Its truths cut us to the core, yet it can also heal us.  

When we compare the Bible to other sacred books like the Qur’an, the Book of Mormon, ancient Babylonian, Hindu, and Buddhist texts, teachings of the Iranian priest Zoroaster, or the Persian poet Omar Khayyam, there is no comparison really. In terms of literary style, language development (like word plays), integration of common themes throughout, and interrelated texts from one part of Scripture to another—as well as the depth of insight about the human condition and God’s character—the Bible stands alone. We don’t worship the book (worship is for God alone) but we honor it and gratefully acknowledge its important role in our lives. As Paul wrote to Timothy: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

The Bible may seem deceptively easy to understand. Its narratives are straightforward and some of the direct commands seem clear enough. But over time we discover it doesn’t reveal its full treasures without effort and meditation. Only those “with eyes to see and ears to hear” will fully grasp the wisdom it shares. That’s why skeptics can’t see or appreciate Scripture’s truth, beauty, and amazing design. We need the Holy Spirit’s help to see the complex connections within its pages and to understand how its wisdom can be applied to our own lives.

No wonder Paul cries out in Romans 11:33: “Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” (Romans 11:33) We’ll never fully plumb the depths of wisdom found in the Bible, but without it, we’ll never grasp the most elementary concepts of truth or morality. This is true for both individuals and nations. I think Allan Bloom, a Jewish professor, got it right in The Closing of the American Mind.

“In the United States, practically speaking, the Bible was the only common culture, one that united the simple and the sophisticated, rich and poor, young and old … [It was] the very model for a vision of the order of the whole of things. With its gradual and inevitable disappearance, the very idea of such a total book is disappearing. And fathers and mothers have lost their idea that the highest aspiration they might have for their children is for them to be wise—as priests, prophets or philosophers are wise. Specialized competence and success are all that they can imagine.”

That this should be so in the secular world isn’t surprising, but often we find a similar approach to life among Christians too. They are so busy getting their kids educated in the finest universities or giving them the opportunity to become great athletes, they give relatively little time to instructing them in what matters most … their relationship with God. Everything we see in the world will one day pass away. All the accolades of other people won’t matter in the end. Only God’s truth will stand the test of time and prove beneficial to us—not just for now but for eternity. Isaiah 40:8 declares, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”

How much time will we invest in this coming year “hiding God’s word in our hearts”? The psalmist in Psalm 119:35-37 asks 3 things of the Lord that we should also be praying in the months ahead:

1. Direct me in the path of your commands for there I find delight.
2. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.
3. Turn my eyes away from worthless things.

Truth is always valuable, but it has taken on special importance in our current age of false narratives, misinformation, and dubious Internet sources. There’s only one book that will not lead us astray or feed us lies. It’s the incomparable book that points us to the Savior, the Lord Jesus. In Him alone we have life and through Him we gain understanding about all things pertaining to life and godliness. As C. S. Lewis wrote, “We come to Scripture not to learn a subject but to steep ourselves in a person.”

Jesus valued Scripture and quoted it often. He understood the importance of standing on God’s sure word when faced with trials and temptations. Do we follow His example? Only truth can drive out error, enabling us to resist the devil. Paul called the Word of God “the sword of the Spirit” in Ephesians 6:17. To become effective ambassadors of God, we must immerse ourselves in His timeless word and let it shape us into Christ’s image. Charles Spurgeon summarized it in this way: “Visit many good books … but LIVE in the Bible.”

Heavenly Father, help me to approach your Scriptures with the same excitement I bring to worldly pursuits and knowledge. I know I’ve often taken my relationship with you and your Word for granted, and for that I am sorry. Thank you for this precious gift of the Bible! This year, help me to invest time in reading, studying, and applying your Word to all areas of my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.  

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