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Wednesday—April 3 • Treasuring Your Bible The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever. Isaiah 40:8
I heard about a man in Kansas City who was badly injured by an explosion. His face was disfigured, and he went blind. Tragically, he lost his hands as well, so learning Braille seemed impossible. This man had recently become a Christian, and he missed reading Scripture. This man heard about a woman in England who learned to read Braille with her lips. He ordered a Braille Bible. With great anticipation, he pressed his lips to the pages, but because of his injuries, his lips had lost their sensitivity. He was tempted to despair, but he kept trying. One day he accidently touched the pages with his tongue,
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and he found he could feel the raised dots of the Braille. This man missed his Bible so much, that he learned to read it with his tongue. When I first heard about him, he had used his tongue to read his Bible coverto-cover four times. I pray that I would love the Scriptures as much as this man MIMBS 1 How important is being able to read the Bible for you personally? Do you wish it was more important to you? Why? Daily Reading: Deuteronomy 23:1–25:19, Luke 10:13–37, Psalm 75:1–10, Proverbs 12:12–14
Thursday—April 4 • Which Version is Right for You?
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11 Translation makes God’s Word accessible so we can read it and intentionally cooperate with God’s plan. In contemporary English, many good versions are available. I use the King James Version, the New American Standard Version, the New International Version or the New Living Translation. In comparing passages, I’ve found they offer different ways to say the same thing. We are blessed with many translations of God’s Word. With websites like biblegateway.com, you can access many of them for free. We’ve all heard the illustration of a man who thought he was drowning. He was flailing around in the water near the shore, and a crowd was gathering. The people were
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yelling, “Stand up!” They knew something the man didn’t know—the water was only four feet deep. A lot of people are flailing around in life. If they just had the perspective of God’s Word, they’d be able to stand. Find a good translation that you understand, and then read it. It will give you something solid to stand on. MIMBS 1 Have you found a version of Scripture that you can read with understanding? If so, why do you like it? If not, will you make a plan to try various versions until you find one God uses to speak to your heart? Daily Reading: Deuteronomy 26:1–27:26, Luke 10:38–11:13, Psalm 76:1–12, Proverbs 12:15–17