“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.â€Â Hebrews 4:12
Recently I heard about a man who became a Christian as a young teenager. His family was good folks but not involved with any church. One day he was sitting in the living room and he noticed a Bible on the table next to him. Having nothing better to do, he opened it and idly began to look at the pictures and leaf through the pages. When he got to the New Testament he saw that some of the words were written in red. That puzzled him, so he began to read only the parts of the Bible that were printed in red, and once he started reading he couldn’t stop. Because of the words of Jesus that were highlighted in red, he came under conviction and became a Christian. He is middle-aged now and is still an avid student of the Bible.
Most of us are familiar with the story of how the famous author Lew Wallace became a believer. He decided to write a book that would once and for all disprove the validity of the Bible. In order to do that, he had to read and study the Bible. During that process, he became convicted of his sin and became a Christian. He then wrote the best-selling novel Ben Hur, a story of a man who had a life-changing encounter with Jesus during the days of Jesus’ ministry on earth.
No doubt, there are many such stories like these. No matter what a Christian’s testimony reveals about how they came to know Jesus, it will involve God’s word, the Holy Bible. In Luke 24:13-35 we read of an encounter that two of Christ’s followers had with him on the road to Emmaus, after his resurrection. In verse 27 we read: “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scripture concerning himself (Jesus).†If we want answers to our questions involving our Christian journey, especially if we need to give our life to Christ, those answers will be found in God’s Holy Word.
When Jesus was being tempted by the devil in the desert, he used the words of God to defeat the devil’s purpose. When Satan tried to use Jesus’ hunger to tempt him to turn stones into bread, Jesus refuted him with these words from Deuteronomy 8:3: “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’†(Matthew 4:4) When we are tempted or uncertain which path to take, we can find those defenses and answers in the Bible.  God is faithful and He will reveal those answers to us. But in order to use the scriptures, we must become familiar with them; to do that, we must spend time reading and studying God’s Word.
“The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.†       Psalm 119:130
“Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.â€Â Proverbs 30:5