THE GOOD BOOK

John Tow Shanton

The fact that the Bible is the most translated book of all today should indicate to us that it is a good book. To all who love the Lord, it is already one super blockbuster. There are, as of 2005, Bibles printed in over 2400 different languages. Now, how is it that so many out there are still balking at reading it?

Oh, there may be some who will say, that does not count. Having a book translated, and pushing it across the border, or putting it on a store shelf does not a blockbuster make. Well, to you, I say, go to: www.soon.org.uk/page19.htm. This site tells us that every year over 100 million copies of the Bible are sold.

And is it not the truth when the British Times newspaper said in 1995: “Forget modern British novelists and TV tie-ins, the Bible is the best selling book every year. If sales of the Bible were included in best-seller lists, it would be a rare week when anything will achieve a look-in. It is wonderful…weird…that in this godless age, this one book would go on selling every month.”

So, I ask, have you read it? If you have not, I urge you to do so. There are many reading schedules you can follow. Check with your pastor. He will be able to recommend one.

I can say that I have read the Bible through. A few times. Even though I do not enjoy the parts that talk about man’s wickedness, I find the passages that tell of God’s mercies and grace to be truly moving. To be sure, the Bible is not a book about man’s goodness. Most of its characters are portrayed as weak, selfish, crafty, wicked, greedy, ungrateful, and even murderous. The Bible pulls no punches, and its frank and forthright presentation of all the characters and players in it tells us this: it could not have been written by man. There is something about this book! If it were authored by a mere human, it would be a heroic tale of a select group of people that would surpass the most epic of our silver screen productions. But no, from the front to the back cover, it is a pretty sorry accounting of the failings of the very people God chose to accomplish His divine plan on earth. I could list for you here the seven sins to illustrate my point: Anger, Greed, Pride, Sloth, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, and every one will be found in some of the misfits of mankind handpicked by Him to do His work. What a sad commentary of our race! All 1600 years of its history; all by its 40 odd writers who ranged from kings and government officials to poor folks, fishermen to teachers, and poets to prophets. They did it in three different languages, and hailed from Asia, Europe and Africa, and although they did not know each other, they spoke about God’s joys and pain. And His love and grace. Often it talks about God’s pain, unfortunately. Read again Genesis 6:5. “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Yet, through all the gloom, the light of God’s love shines! He keeps loving and helping His people. That I say, always touches my heart whenever I read the Bible.

And, that my readers is when you will hear the “still small voice.” Yes, the Bible speaks to you! And when you hear it, know that “it is the Lord!”

Is that not the message then, that God wants us to hear? Should God’s love for us not be preached abroad then, to all, by all of us who are His? I am of the opinion that as Christians, we have been entrusted by Him to reflect the light of His love to the world. Our life purpose is therefore to live the love that He has shown us! How? By sharing it with all those around us! And when we do, it will show that our hearts have been truly made renew by Him and that we are His own. When that happens, you can be sure that He will step in and work a miracle such as you have never seen before. For why, we would have the code key that will open the heavenly flood gates of God’s blessings!

I can say that I have experienced that. Can you? I live my life loving it, and loving God, and loving all those around me. And let me tell you, I am even now experiencing the joys of heaven while I am here on earth!

The Bible is divine. So like a treasure map, or a code book, it is! I still remember the Sunday School class I attended where the Bible was called: “The Sign Manual.” Being that I was rather young at the time, it did not click with me, for I wondered what it meant for as long as I could remember! “Sign Manual… Sign Manual.” What are they talking about? But, I did not let it bother me too much. More into what is fun than anything, the idea of going to Sunday School was—play. Of course!

But, what do you know, as I matured in my Christian walk I soon got to understand what it meant. It is a book that shows Jesus our Lord to us. So, here I am today, many decades after the time I sat in that little Sunday School class, scratching my head over what this “Sign Manual” was, but all the while holding this “Sign Manual” in my hand. It is the Bible.

So, when I contemplate what I have in my hand, every time I hold the Bible, I cannot help but think that all through these thousands of years, Satan has been trying to take God’s Word away from us. He has sent his minions out to stop its being ever written at all. He has tried to cast doubt on its message with his “Yea, hath God said…?” time and time again. Or to corrupt its meanings by causing all kinds of versions with verses removed, to be completed to add to the confusion. Look at the many out there, and you will see how divisive they are.

Ah, all through the world’s bloody history, men have sought to destroy the Bible’s central message. Which simply put, is, God loves us, and wants us to love Him back and to be good to all His children. Our fellows. Even today, we see the forces of evil doing what they can to cast an aspersion on this fact, and thus, to take away that which is divine from the Bible.

Do we not see that most clearly right in the Middle East today? Look at how poorly God’s own chosen people themselves do regard the Word of God personified. Our Lord. Let alone the gospel of love. They will be ever so quick to throw you in jail if you preach Him. Yet, they have hopes of victory in their endless struggle to secure their place in the sun there. With hatred in their hearts, how will they ever do it? Especially when their hatred is riding upon more hatred their neighbors are heaping upon them? If violence begets violence, surely hate begets death.

From the time Jesus walked the earth, there was already so much that was unholy, going on in the “Holy Land.” Follow the way He went and you will see that almost everywhere He got to, He was shunned. Was it not said that “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not?” He was spat on, ridiculed, and He was often in danger of being torn limb from limb by people He knew. Especially by the ones that ruled the synagogues, mind you—the religious clerics who were supposed to help lead the people in their community to walk in the right paths. They were the hypocrites who constantly talked up a good game while they ridiculed and derided Him. Their religion was mainly an outward show and Jesus even commented on how they loved to make long prayers and pontificate about spiritual matters to make themselves look good to their fellows. But Jesus saw through their charade. He knew how dark their hearts were, even though they sounded learned and could quote Scripture. Like Satan could. You bet Jesus was on top of things! Why, He, the Word, was God.

Although Jesus went everywhere, doing what He could to alleviate pain and suffering, many who were helped by Him never came back to thank Him. But never once did He undo what good He had done even to the most ungrateful. His mission was to work the work of God, which was to seek and to save all those who needed Him. He fed the hungry, and healed the sick. He even made the blind to see, and the lame to walk. He raised the dead. He never harmed anyone. He had no interest in leading an army. There were many around Him who thought of Him as a possible rebel lord. But He had no desire of being one. Or of leading any band of thugs, for that matter. Most of the zealots were of that ilk and He knew them through and through. He was a man of peace and so, He walked away from them. Yes, He is the Prince of peace. He brought peace and joy to all who believed in Him.  He even calmed the winds and the waves when He was in the boat with the disciples on Galilee the night the storm hit. He, as the God of Creation showed everybody with Him that night, His awesome power. What a Man!

And He is God’s Word, the “Logos,” as the Apostle John called Him. The Word made flesh and who came and lived among us. In the three short years when He ministered to us, He showed how God loves us. Those who saw Him, saw the Father, and knew right away that God is love, just as Jesus had taught, and that He was always reaching out to all mankind. He had reached out to people like Abraham and to Noah, before him. He is always looking for good people to fellowship with. Are you the person He is looking to sup with?

How unlike the many so-called or self-styled “reformers” or religious leaders in the world, our Lord! Indeed, He was just about the only one who went about “doing good.” No one that came before or after was like Him. No one even came close. We know of the “false Christs” that He warned His disciples about towards the end of the three plus years of His ministry on the earth. Matthew 24:24 tells us that. He said: “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets…”. Is not one of these the cause of so many of the world’s problems now with all the murderous lies that he had promulgated? It stands to reason then, that this false Christ would be advancing his false gospel, a gospel that is totally antithetical to that of Christ’s, which is love. Therefore the unmitigated hatred the followers of this false Christ are spewing on us all lately.

Yet, it is interesting that even these who would kill without pity are not able to destroy Him or His Good Book.