From Cover to Cover

A few days ago I finished reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. This was the first time I had done so in my 25 years of following the Lord Jesus Christ. Previously I read through the New Testament in its entirety but knew I needed to do the same with the Old Testament. There have been people I witnessed to who asked if I read the entire Bible. (Until I had done so, I replied, “I’ve read enough to know I’m going to heaven when my life ends. How about you?”)

While conducting polls at his meetings, one well-known evangelist determined as many as 80% of believers never read the whole Bible. He pointed out the early Christians didn’t have a New Testament to read. The Bereans “…searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:11) They studied Old Testament passages to verify that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah. There are many other truths we can learn from the saints of old. 1 Corinthians 10:11 says, “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”

So if you haven’t yet read the whole Bible, I exhort you to do so. Many times we find ourselves waiting in line at the bank or a restaurant. Lately I’ve used those times to read Scripture on my smartphone. I also always have a small Gideons Bible in my back pocket. Either of these tools can be used to help one fulfill the goal of reading God’s word from cover to cover.

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” - 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)

Banning the Bible

One sign we are living in the last days is people easily taking offense (Matthew 24:10).  This certainly holds true with non-Christians not wanting God in any part of their lives whatsoever.  Gideon Bibles were recently removed from all 137 rooms of a lodge owned by the University of Wisconsin.  This was in response to a complaint filed by the Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation.  

FFRF Co-President Dan Barker made the following statement, “We atheists and agnostics do not appreciate paying high prices for lodging, only to find Gideon Bibles in our hotel rooms, sometimes prominently displayed, knowing they contain instructions, for instance, to kill ‘infidels’ and ‘blasphemers,’ among other primitive and dangerous teachings.”  

Barker’s statement is ludicrous for a couple reasons.  First of all, high hotel rates have nothing to do with whether or not there are Bibles in the room.  Gideons International has been distributing copies of the Bible for free since 1899.

Secondly, Barker misinterprets the Bible’s “dangerous teachings.”  For one thing, Jesus told us in Matthew 5:44 to “...love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.”

When I stay in a hotel, I often channel surf and have to sift through TV programs promoting violence and illicit sex.  What if I complained to the front desk about those offensive programs?  They would just tell me to change the channel.  Non-believers who don’t want to read the bibles in their rooms (usually placed in a drawer near the local phone book) can simply ignore them.

Nevertheless, the Freedom From Religion Foundation has petitioned the hotel industry to inaugurate “bible-free” rooms, just as hotels and motels offer smoke-free rooms.  Without the author of God’s word in their hearts, members of the FFRF certainly won’t spend eternity in the non-smoking section.

No matter how successful atheists may get the Holy Bible removed from other public places, they will never totally eliminate God’s word.  

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” - Matthew 24:35

Giving Away God’s Word

Whenever I lead someone to the Lord, I usually take an extra minute to encourage the newborn believer to pray, read the Bible, and attend a good church. When I specifically talk about the Bible, I will ask if he (or she) has one at home. If he doesn’t, then I ask, “If I give you one, will you read it?” Sometimes people will answer, “Probably not.” In cases like that, my next question for them is, “What would happen if you stopped eating food?” They usually say they will get weak or die. I then point out the same thing can happen to them spiritually. Reading God’s word feeds a person’s spirit.

Don’t think someone’s salvation isn’t legitimate just because he doesn’t immediately get excited about reading the Bible. One reason may be this person thinks he has to read an older translation like the King James Version that can be hard to understand. Another reason might be some people think they are supposed to read the whole Bible like a regular book. Although that’s a good habit for any believer, it can be intimidating for someone not familiar with God’s word. 

A couple of times as a boy, I started reading the book of Genesis but soon lost interest when getting to the genealogies. Years later when my brother-in-law led me to the Lord, he gave me two bibles. One of them was in a comic-book format. For a while, I mostly read that one. The illustrations and the more conversational-like words spoken by the characters made it easy for me to understand Christian principles. 

Nowadays, I encourage new believers to begin reading the gospel of John to better understand what Jesus has done for them. For years I have mostly given away small New Testaments to people who don’t have a Bible. Then one afternoon I stopped at a Wal-Mart and ended up witnessing to a young man smoking in his car. After Jeremy prayed to receive salvation but wasn’t interested in receiving a bible from me, I remembered having gospels of John in my back pocket. Jeremy was more receptive to receiving one of those.

Of course, it’s important for every believer to eventually become familiar with all of God’s Word.

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 
- 2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV)