Thursday, December 4, 2008

Student Devotions - December 12, 2008

Good morning students,

Remember the assignment that some of you did on discovering if we have become overly dependant on the Internet and computers? This morning I discovered one of the things I have become dependant on the Internet for; my Bible. I have become so acustomed to reading my Bible online that I never take my Bible anywhere but to church. My problem this morning is that I cannot connect to that site and I am not at home where I could choose for a dozen different Bibles. It is strange the Internet will allow me to connect to any site but that one.

I am getting a small taste of the restrictions that many parts of the world live under, where what they watch and read is censored by their government or society. There are places in the world where it is illegal to own a Bible and possession of one can lead to imprisonment or death. I am certain that most of you would not even give your Bible a second thought. You have probably always had access to one. In fact, there are probably at least three Bibles in your home. Take a minute and count the number of Bibles that you know for certain your family possesses.

Most of us have read the missionary stories that tell tales of towns or villages that do not have one Bible to share among the believers. There are stories of how, when a Bible does manage to make it there, the pastor will tear the pages out and give one to each person to memorize and then circulate. They are desperate to memorize the Bible because they know it can be taken from them at any moment. Can you imagine living with such a fear? Can you imagine it being that important to you?

The fact is that the Word of God is the revelation he has chosen to give to us, to reveal his heart to us, that we would know him enough to make the right decision to trust him. It guides us, teaches us, corrects us. It gives us a moral center in our lives. It gives us an absolute that does not change. There is nothing that the Spirit will instruct us in that goes against the Word so it is our method of knowing if the voice we hear is the Spirit or the enemy. It also gives us a tool to know the true servants compared to those that would seed confusion. It is a great source of encouragement and wisdom. It is one of the most precious treasures that we have been given

We know according to the prophecies that a time is coming when we will have to hide away the Word of God like a precious treasure, that the enemy will try to wipe it from the face of the history of man. He may be able to threaten the physical form of the Bible but he will not be away to wipe it from our hearts. This is the importance of memorizing it now while we can. Perhaps it does not seem urgent to you now but how will you instruct your children when it becomes illegal to possess a Bible?

I am frustrated this morning and annoyed. Yet I will be able to go home and pick up one of my many Bibles. My lack of access is simply for a short period. My frustration will pass. But what about those who live in the darkest areas of our world? What will our frustration be like in the future?

11 comments:

Olivia said...

My house has about five bibles in it. I have heard a few stories of pastor's tearing out pages of the bible and giving it out to people. I have to say, there are a LOT of things we take for granted.

J_For said...

For a long time I took my Bible for granted, in recent times I have started trying to stop doing so. Whenever I look something up on an internet Bible, I try to check it against the one I carry in my bag, just in case it is not accurate. I do not really have trouble reading my Bible every day, but memorization is much harder. The PACE's memory verses do help with that, although more knowledge of how to use certain verses would be helpful sometimes.

Ray said...

I personally have 2 bibles, but I have gotten so used to using the internet too..... I don't even know where one is, and the other one is in my desk for when we go in the sanctuary.... but wow, imagine having the whole Bible memorized!

Naomi S. said...

It is sad to see how we (and I include myself in this) take such advantage of our Bible's. Over the course of my short time here on Earth, I have owned multiple Bibles, and I know for sure that at the moment I own at least two. One of which I carry with me often because of it's convenient size (and it's really pretty), and the other not so. I am not even sure where it is. Sad really. Here we are in our comfortable North American, "free world" homes with God only knows (no pun intended) how many Bibles sitting about our house, looking all pretty with fancy covers and nice designs on them, and sometimes even our name, for what seems to be only the sake of dust collection rather than Spiritual instruction, when out there in certain areas of the world its not even legal to own even one Bible! I can not imagine what it would be like if that happened here. The thought kinda scares you into wanting to try to do better at memorizing it and paying closer attention in church....

M.K. "Blue Monkey Ninja" said...

Why doesn't work thats odd. And I my house we have about three and thats it. I lisson to our missionaries preach and sometimes i remember what he was talking about.Olivia Really. And Dad I hope that you'll come home safly...

Niki said...

Do beginner Bibles count? 'Cause if they do we have about nine Bibles altogether. I've also heard about Pastor's tearing out pages of the Bible and giving it to people to memorize... It's hard to imagine that happening here.

sasha said...

I have about six to ten bible in my house, even though I have that much I use internet.I think that the fact that some people can't have bible in there possession's is a bad and sad thing.

jessika said...

well at my house we have more than seven Bibles, and yet we only use two of them. There are many things that we take for granted in our lives, and one of those things would be the right to have a Bible. Personally i don't like to use online Bibles, i guess i prefer to use my pretty green Bible.

kaylah said...

I have about two bibles, but I don't really read them. I usually use the online bible. It's really sad that we don't read our Bibles often. There are a lot of people that aren't even allowed to have a bible.

Kendall said...

I have about 10 bibles in my house. But i haven't become dependent on the internet bible......maybe just a little bit because for all my school work that has to do with the bible i use the internet for. the rest i use for church.

Brandon said...

My Mom and I have about 5 bibles all together, but i dont know how many Miss Hencher. I also rather going on a paper bible than on the internet. We should always read it and think how blessed we are to be allowed to own oneand read it.