May 1 I Wednesday

1 Kings 10-11

Luke 21:20-38

“Your word, LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.”   —Psalm 119:89

To be able to hold a library in one’s hand is an incredible feeling, and that is exactly what the Bible is. Our English word “Bible” comes from the Greek word biblos meaning “library.” It is made up of 66 books written by more than 40 writers over a period of at least 1500 years in three completely different languages: Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. The Bible contains history, poetry, doctrine, ethics and prophecy, as well as stories of war, love, politics, faith, hope, love, murders, adultery and suicide. If you want to read a good book, the Bible has it all!

Some may think the Bible is based on human wisdom and ideas. With writers such as Moses, Joshua, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul and James associated with its authorship, it is reasonable to believe that these people are the source of wisdom, insight and message behind the Bible. But this could not be further from the truth!

Though human beings wrote the Bible, its origin is in God Himself. Peter explains, “For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). Scripture is God speaking, moving men as He carried them along by the Holy Spirit and inspiring the substance of what they wrote. This is why the Bible is known as the Word of God, because it is the Spirit of God that imparts its content.

The Bible tells us where we came from and where we are going. The story begins with an eternity past and ends with an anticipated eternity future. If we wanted to rename the Bible, we might call it, “From Eternity to Eternity,” and we stand and exist in the middle of the story. At the heart of this book is the most fantastic message ever heard by the human race: how God, our Creator, intervened by becoming a man in order to restore fallen humanity into a relationship with Him that is living, permanent and eternal.

Christians are often known as “people of the book” because this book—the Word of God—is the source and authority behind everything that we say, believe and do. What gives the Bible its authority is not its content but its origin, which is derived from God. Since the Bible is indeed the Word of God, as Christians, we should respond with submission to its authority over our lives and acknowledge the central place the Word of God holds in all that we do.

Prayer: Everlasting God, thank You for giving me Your Word. Create in me a desire to read Your Word and know You more.