Ray C. Stedman
In a world generously supplied with con-artists, pitchmen, wordy politicians,
and outright liars, it is a great relief to know there is a place where
one can always hear the truth---the truth plainly and simply put, without
fear or favor. That place is the book of God, the Bible. God is a Realist.
He deals with everything and everyone exactly the way they are, and he knows
what that is because he made everything and everyone. It is impossible for
him to tell a lie, because he himself is Truth! He deceives no one and no
one deceives him, for apart from him there is no reality.
It is only to be expected, therefore, that the Book that comes from him,
though it comes through many different humans writing and speaking over
many centuries, should nevertheless be characterized by truth. Jesus affirmed
it as such. He prayed for his disciples, saying to the Father,
"Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth." (John 17:17).
The truth is not always easy for us to hear. Sometimes it pierces me and
convicts me. Sometimes I wish I could evade it, and then I am reminded that
it was sent to heal me. Often it encourages me and enheartens me. Sometimes
it restores me when nothing else can do so. It confronts me with paradoxes
of revelation which intrigue me and challenge me. It exposes the secular
illusions of the day and reveals the destructive ends to which they lead.
It deals honestly with uncomfortable concepts and opposes the strangleholds
of tradition, correcting them with the authority of God.
I have learned to appreciate the Bible most because it brings me face-to-face
with my God! Or at least the relationship is so real and personal that it
seems to be a face-to-face encounter. My heavenly Father becomes more real
and close than any earthly father. I can all but see my Lord and Savior
standing beside me and talking to me as I read his words in the gospels.
Sometimes the words of Scripture become so vivid and luminous that I feel
like kneeling or even falling on my face before the majesty of God. No other
book has such power to transport me beyond earth to heavenly places.
I am often made aware of the power of the Bible in other people's lives,
as well. I see it awaken a response in many readers to seize and possess
for themselves the promises of God. I have watched it repattern the minds
of an entire congregation to view life biblically and realistically. For
many, the Bible has unfolded to them the meaning of their humanity and clarified
the way it was meant to function. It awakens compassion and delivers from
selfishness. It arouses a sense of true worship, grounded in the truth and
issuing from the spirit within. No wonder Jeremiah could say,
"When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God Almighty." (15:16).
Pasted in the front of my Bible are the words of Henry Van Dyke which I
often pray:
Grant us the knowledge that we need,
To solve the questions of the mind.
Light Thou our candles, while we read,
To keep our hearts from going blind.
Enlarge our vision to behold,
The wonders Thou hast wrought of old!"