We are emphasizing being thankful this week. The list of things for which we should be thankful to God is long, but one thing we most certainly should always be thankful for is the Word of God. God’s Word comes to us today through the book we call the Bible. What a blessing it is to have the Word in written form, and for it to be so accessible to us today, at least in this country. The majority of people in our society today have at least one copy of the Bible in their homes, even if they do not read nor study it as they should. The point is it is readily available to us. Thank God for this.
We are only thankful for the Word of God when we realize how valuable it is to us. The value of the Bible is seen by its ability to enlighten us.
Psalm 119:105 (ESV)
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
We only know how to live and serve God because the Bible tells us how to do it. It teaches us not only what we have to do to be saved, but also gives us all the information we need to stay saved. All we have to do is read, study, rightly divide, and then apply it to our lives and eternal life will be secured. We should be thankful to God that through His divine providence, He has made the Bible so accessible and has preserved it for us from its inception until now (1 Peter 1:21-25).
By the way, while you are thanking the Father for His Word, do not forget to thank the Holy Spirit. He is ultimately responsible for us having God’s Word. Remember, he guided the apostles into all truth (John 16:13), which they in turn put into written form (Ephesians 3:1-4). We do not always give the Holy Spirit as much love as we do the Father and the Son, but we should.
The Bible also serves as one of our greatest defenses against the devil and his attacks. The Bible, when applied correctly, keeps us from sinning habitually.
Psalm 119:11 (ESV)
11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
John taught us the same thing, maybe in an even more direct fashion.
1 John 3:9 (ESV)
9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.
No wonder Paul encouraged us to allow the Word of Christ to dwell in us (Colossians 3:16). There is great value in doing so.
These are just a couple of things the Bible does for us. The greatest thing it does for us is save us (James 1:21), but, again, it only does that when we apply it to our lives.
Knowing the value of the Bible and all that it does for us, we should be thankful for it all the time. If we are, we will use it like we should. The Bible is of no use to us just lying on a table somewhere collecting dust. It has to be read and applied.
When you are giving thanks to God for the many blessings you have received, do not forget to thank Him for the Bible. Without it, our hope of heaven would vanish.
As you wind down for the night, think about these things.