The life-value of the Bible

I used to be encouraged by very popular verses in the Bible.  Verses like “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” and “For to me to live is Christ and to die is Gain!”  which are both found in Philippians.  Those verses are still wonderful but they don’t encourage me like they used to.  I have to find new verses to inspire me.  The following verses have been like food for my soul the past few months.
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”  Galatians 6:9
“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”  Isaiah 40:8
I put those verses by my desk because they give me strength.  I don’t mean that they make me feel nicer.  I mean that those verses encourage me to do my best, to work hard, and to try to continually become the person that God has made me to be.
A few years ago I was going through a particularly rough patch in my life and I happened to be reading the Psalms.  I was reading Psalm 15 and my life changed.  God used those words to encourage and comfort me.
The Bible is very important to me.  Words really will not do justice to just how important the BIble has become to me.  On some days it is like food for my soul.  It seems like I turn to the Bible when I am discouraged or sad or angry.  I need to read it to calm me down or help me see just how much bigger God is than whatever I am facing.
I am convinced that reading the Bible is one of the most important things that a human being can do.  My actions, my decisions, and my thoughts are shaped by those words.  I am the person that I am because of the words contained in the Bible.  Going an entire day without reading the Bible is much like going an entire day without food.  If you have gone for an extended period of time without eating you know what happens.  Your body becomes weaker, you get a headache, and you get grouchy.  The longer it goes on the worse everything gets.  If you go without eating for too long you will die.  I believe that if you go too long without reading the Bible you will drift into spiritual death.
God has given us the Bible as a very special gift.  It is a way to understand Him and understand ourselves.  It teaches us how to live and how to recognize good from evil.  It gives us comfort, peace, and courage.  It is far more than a book.  The Bible is alive.  The words that you read are the words meant for your life at that given moment.

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