Pastor Ray Park

Is it really necessary to carry around the Bible?

It is not a question regarding whether we should bring our bibles to the Sunday service or not.  It is a question regarding how much of the Bible do we actually consider worth reading?

I remember seeing someone carrying a very tiny Bible that only contains “Promises of God.”  I’ve also seen someone who tore the entire OT out from his Bible.  When was the last time you read the Book of Deuteronomy or Leviticus or Hezekiah or Obadiah?  Perhaps the reason that we do not understand God’s plan for us is because we have not read what God had revealed to us in entirety. through the Scripture.  Perhaps, we are just picking and choosing what we would like to hear but rejecting anything that sounds negative.

I was getting a contact information of one of the staff at IHOP-KC to inquire some housing information.  This person had stored the staff’s info on her phone as Kansas house.  The word “Kansas” was so obvious for anyone who can read English, but at that time I was so preoccupied with getting the information of this particular staff, I read it as 간사’s house. The word 간사 means staff in Korean.  I would transliterate that word as “Gansa” or “Kansa”.

I hope this embarrassing mistake that I just shared with you made you laugh, but at the same time I hope this has made you see the truth about ourselves.  We do hear about people taking the Scripture out of the context to understand it completely different from the intended meaning of it.

How many of us has Phil. 4:13 as your favorite verse?  It says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  I challenge you to read the entire book of Philippians.  You will understand that it is not a verse that we should use right before the important interview or exams.

Not only we take the Scripture out of its context, but we also mark passages as irrelevant for our own context.  Did you ever read the passage from Luke 14:26-27 that says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”?  What would you do with these verses?  Have you wrestled with these verses?  These verses make perfect sense when we read it with the Greatest commandment in mind.  When I love God with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind, and all my strength, God becomes number one in my life.  Anyone or anything that desires my care or love from me becomes secondary.  They (My wife, my children, parents, etc.) will contend for their spot on the priority in my life, but I will have to continue to make it know to them that God is number one.

We must take the Word of God seriously.  As we take the Word of God seriously and start digging into it as we should, you would be able to confess what David confessed: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Ps. 119:103).