The Power of the Deathless Book
by Dr. Harold Sala
“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” -Isaiah 40:8
It was about 1880 when a Welshman by the name of R. G. Thomas was aboard a ship that went aground off the coast of Korea. His destination of China was never realized because Thomas was taken captive and soon martyred. But before he was taken prisoner, he grabbed his Bible and took it with him.
Some time later, however, Thomas’ son gained possession of his father’s Bible, and for the first time in his life began seriously studying this book which had brought his father half-way around the world and given him comfort in his death. What happened? He was converted and followed in his father’s footsteps.
Question: Have you ever heard of anyone who said, “When I began reading books on science and technology, my heart was strangely drawn towards God”? Or, “When I began studying philosophy and history, I was converted and gave my life for Christian service”?
The impact of the Bible over the centuries is unrivaled. Recently, a local newspaper asked its readers what is the most impressive book they read in the twentieth century? You guessed it: the Bible was named more than any other book. One person responded, “My life, and my seven-year-old son’s life, were forever changed when someone gave me a Bible in a translation I could understand.”
Another added this testimony: “The Bible remained on my bookshelf gathering dust while I had feelings of guilt for not reading it. I’m still not sure why I picked it up one day and began seriously reading it. I remember thinking that if Christians were right about Jesus, I had better know what God was saying to me… My intent was to read it for intellectual purposes, but something happened that day and to my surprise I began to understand the words with my heart and spirit. That was the beginning of a very different life for me.” (The Orange County Register, Dec. 12, 1999, Commentary, p. 4).
I’m thinking of the question of a Chinese lad in his early 20’s to a British acquaintance who was traveling with an international group, one of the first to go into China when it began to open in 1979. The Chinese youth wanted a Bible and so plucking up his courage, he approached the foreigner and asked if he had a Bible. Yes, he did. But no, he did not have it with him. It was at home, on a shelf in his library in Britain. “Do you read your Bible?” asked the young man. “No,” replied the tourist, adding, “it’s part of my library, but, no, I don’t take time to read it.”
Puzzled that a person would have a Bible–something then denied to millions of Chinese–he asked, “If you have a Bible, why don’t you read it?”
Good question. What would be your answer? “The deathless Book” as Isaac Taylor referred to the Bible, “has survived three great dangers: the neglect of its friends; the false systems built upon it; the warfare of those who have hated it.” (Isaac Taylor, as quoted by Warren Wiersbe, With the Word, Nelson, 1991, p. 521). But the most puzzling of all is the neglect of its friends. Are you one of them?
This book alone answers the three great questions of life and existence: Who am I? Where did I come from? Where will I go after I die? Creating guilt because you don’t read it daily won’t cause you to start reading it, but personal commitment and discipline will. Suggestion: Get a modern version of this book and start reading the Gospel of John, then the book of Acts. Then go back to Genesis and Psalms in the Old Testament. It will be amazing how this book will come alive and will change your life. I know; it changed mine.
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