You’re reading THE TOP 20 PASSAGES IN THE BIBLE, by Eric Elder, featuring 20 inspiring devotionals based on the 20 most popular passages in the Bible. Also available in paperback and eBook formats in our bookstore for a donation of any size!

Scripture Reading:  John 5:39-40

Some people wonder why Christians have such a love affair with the Bible.  The truth is that we’re not just in love with the words on the pages.  We’re in love with the One who is portrayed by those words.

It’s like carrying around a picture of your beloved in your purse or wallet.  When you take out that picture, looking fondly at the image, and maybe even brushing the picture up against your cheek, or giving it a kiss with your lips, it’s not that you’re in love with the picture on the paper.  You’re in love with the one whose image is displayed on the paper.

In the same way, those who love their Bibles aren’t just in love with the Bible.  They’re in love with the One who is displayed on its pages.

Yet as wonderful as this kind of love affair with the Bible can be, there’s a surprising danger in it.  There are times when you might fall so much in love with the words on the pages that you miss having a relationship with the Word Himself, Jesus Christ, who is described on those pages.  Even Jesus warned of this danger when He said to some of the religious leaders of His day:

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40). 

The Message translation of the Bible paraphrases these same words of Jesus like this:

“You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you’ll find eternal life there…These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am, standing right before you” (John 5:39-40, MSG). 

Imagine holding a picture of your beloved in your hands, treasuring it, pulling it close to your heart, and even gazing at it longingly, all the while not even realizing or acknowledging that your beloved is standing right there next to you the whole time!

As much as I love the Bible―and it is my favorite book in the world―I have to remind myself from time to time that the Trinity is not made up of “the Father, the Son, and the Holy Scripture.”  But rather, the Trinity is made up of “the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” three aspects of the same singular God who loves you and wants to be involved actively in your life today!

Keep reading your Bible, but don’t forget:  Jesus is STILL alive!  When His Holy Spirit prompts you to give, then give!  When you ask Him a question in prayer, then wait and listen for His answer!  When you’re feeling stressed  and start meditating on God’s Word, remember that God’s Word―Jesus Christ―is standing right there with you, too!

The words of the Bible are like love letters to you from your beloved, scented with the perfume of heaven, and sealed with a kiss from the Creator of the universe.  He loves you more than you could know, and He demonstrated that love by sending His Son Jesus to live and die and rise again from the dead, so you can live and die and rise again from the dead with Him one day, too.  If you’re going to have a love affair, make sure you have it not just with the words on the pages of the Bible, but have it with the One who is described by those words:  Jesus Christ!

Prayer

Father thank You for showing us who you are on the pages of the Bible.  Help us to read Your Word as love letters from You, and help us to remind ourselves that our relationship is with You―a real and living Person.  We invite you to speak into our lives again today, and continue to speak to us throughout our lives and on into heaven, when we will be with You forever.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Memory Verse

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40).