Tuesday, March 22, 2016
I am so thankful that the Holy Spirit ordained that this verse be included in the Bible: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17 KJV) The NIV renders it this way: “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” Here is just one case in point: On the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached the gospel to the huge crowd that had come to see what the commotion was all about. Acts 2:37 reads: “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Four verses later, we read that three thousand believed the message and were added to their number. I suppose we can reasonably surmise by this that more people come to Christ by hearing than by reading,
I am especially happy to know this truth because not all of God’s children are avid readers of the scriptures, or anything else for that matter for there are some people in the world who believe in Christ even though they cannot read. I’m sure that all of you who receive this blog, on the other hand, can read but I also sense that not all of you are avid readers, myself included. I am by no means an avid book reader and were it not for the Bible and other resources associated with it, I suspect I would not be reading as much as I do. In fact, I see myself more as a researcher than a reader and am certainly not like others who read mainly because they enjoy the pastime.
If you ever find yourself reading a verse, sentence, or paragraph over and over again because you didn’t quite understand it at first, and you doggedly pursue the matter until you’re fairly satisfied that you got it, then you’re like me. Some of you even prefer to hear the Bible instead of reading it and absolutely love it when someone reads it to you. The same goes for those of you who love to hear recorded sermons or bible teachings. Because this is true, no child of God can reasonably state that they don’t know the Bible because they don’t read much. We don’t have to! I am convinced that those who read the Bible understand and retain it a little bit better, so I always encourage people to read it on a daily basis. But whether we read it or hear it, there are not many excuses for not knowing God’s Word. Remember: faith comes by hearing.
Memory verse for the week: (Psalm 16:8) “I have set the Lord always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.”
