“Dad, I found another Bible in a trashcan,” shouted my daughter from down the hall. For several years, to supplement my ministry income, I operated a house cleaning business for real estate agents. These were empty and unoccupied homes up for resale. Typically, this was an easy job providing good income. This house was the exception. It had been abandoned for a year by a couple going through a bitter divorce. The furniture was still in place and even the kitchen cabinets and refrigerator were filled with food—year old food! I also repaired several walls where someone had punched their fist through the sheetrock, and replaced doors that were apparently kicked in. This made us wonder what happened to bring all this about.
After a few days of cleaning, hauling away furniture and loads of trash, we noticed a pattern. I discovered partial bottles of whisky in cabinets and bedside stands in each room throughout this two story house. When my daughter began bagging trash, she removed a Bible from every single trashcan. Using this as an opportunity to teach my teenage daughter, I told her, “this was the problem: Bibles in the trash and whisky in every room.” I have thought about this each time I have driven by the house and often wondered if my agent would have even been selling this property if it had been the reverse—a Bible in every room and a bottle of whiskey in every trashcan.
When God gave Moses the blueprint for the Tabernacle, He warned that it be made exactly like the pattern I will show you (Ex 25:9). Eight times, up until the completion, emphasis was placed on following the exact pattern. Now we are the tabernacles and temples of God. The LORD has provided the Bible as the pattern for building our lives, our marriages, our families, and our relationships. Only by the word of God working through the Holy Spirit can anyone live a successful and joyous life. I heard someone say that one ‘book’ people often quote as if it were scripture, but not in the Bible, in fact not even published, is the Book of Opinions. When a believer says, “I know Paul wrote this in the book of Ephesians, BUT in my opinion . . .! At this point, they have already started alternating God’s pattern. For the Christian, the Bible is not a book of legalistic demands. The Old Testament proved that man does not have the ability either to gain his salvation or to live a fruitful life by striving to obey rules. However, scripture is the means, by which the Holy Spirit guides and directs us.
I have watched through my lifetime as the world has increasingly pushed away the Bible as the only transcendent plan from the LORD. Today, even a lot of Christians say it is not absolute and contains errors. According to a recent survey by George Barna, only 32% of born-again Christians believe in moral absolutes. Where does this leave the other 68 percent? I have also witnessed the sharp decline in morality, an increase in violence, in failed marriages and dysfunctions families. The family who owned the house with Bibles in the trashcans without a doubt was dysfunctional. Despite the fact, they owned numerous copies of God’s Word; obviously, it was not their guiding principle.
What was even more staggering in Barna’s report was that 83% of all teens believe moral truth depends on the circumstances. Only 6% believe in absolute truth. So where are they and the 68% of adults getting a pattern for life? For many, it is the humanistic teachings of the world. The Bible also cautions of errors that can lead us astray: they walked in the customs which Israel had introduced (2 Kings 17:19); Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught (Isa 29:13); he was determined to follow man’s command (Hos 5:11); They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules (Matt 15:9); See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ (Col 2:8); pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth (Titus 1:14). Paul wrote that men are without excuse because the things of God had been clearly seen and understood through creation. He warned that the godlessness and wickedness of people would suppress the truth, literally ‘hold it down’ (Rom 1:18, 20).
Being a Christian with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and knowing scripture will not eliminate all the problems of life. Yet, it does give us direction for dealing with issues and provides the wisdom by which we can avoid many struggles. Most important, listening to God followed by obedience initiates His involvement. The Psalmist wrote, Oh that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways! I would quickly subdue their enemies And turn My hand against their adversaries (Psa 81:13, 14). Isaiah the prophet wrote, If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea (Isa 48:18). The fact that Isaiah lived more than two hundred years after the Psalmist Asaph, shows that God’s people were still not following His pattern. Thus, they were still fighting their enemies and living a life filled with struggles. Do not allow the same to be said of you.
SUSTAINING WORD FOR THE WEEK: The Bible is really a simple book and the Author lives within you. If you have questions, He will guide you into all the truth. Through it and His help, you can life a fruitful, successful, and joyous life. But be aware, an unread Bible is no more effective than one in the trashcan.