Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us at the next Sunday worship service:
In-Person
9:00am & 10:45am,
Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Difficult. Dangerous. Illegal.

I would not believe in a Bible if it would not be worth it to smuggle it in everywhere even at the greatest risk and if it would not be worth it to sit ten days and nights alone in the cold in order to be able to read its wonderful pages.” – Richard Wurmbrand. 

During our services at Northstar this week, we asked all of our campuses to stand while I read from Philippians 1. We did this because the Bible is more than an instruction manual for Christians. When we read the Bible we are acknowledging that it has been given to us by the living God. God makes it possible for sinners to understand them and embrace them. And although we take access to scripture for granted, thousands have died to preserve them for us to this day.  There is no book like the Christian Bible—divinely inspired, infallible, and authoritative.

Today in various parts of the world there are brave men and women risking arrest, imprisonment, beatings and even death to get God’s Word into the hands of those who otherwise might never receive it. They are working in some of the world’s most difficult and dangerous mission fields. In some of these areas, possessing a Bible could get you 15 years of hard labor in a prison camp, or worse. In restricted nations, believers have two requests: “Please pray for us” and “Please send Bibles!” Believers, as well as those seeking Christ, often wait years to own their own copy of God’s Word, and they do so at great risk. But the requests continue: “Please send Bibles!” That’s how precious it is to them. My prayer is that it is just as precious to us. 

In John 6:63, Jesus says, “The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” An amazing thing happens when you study the Scriptures. Your mind sees better, and your heart opens up. The Bible is more than just an instruction manual. It creates faith, produces change, causes blessings, heals wounds, transforms character, builds joy, strengthens relationships, and guarantees your future. What book does that? What would we do without it? That’s why Job said, ‘I have not departed from his commands, but have treasured his words more than daily food.’ (Job 23:12)

Fortunately, we do not have to do anything difficult, dangerous, or illegal to own and read our Bible.  I hope you stick your nose in it everyday and let it permeate all your thoughts and feelings. Reading the Bible and living what it says will shape you into the kind of person who is grateful for the people in your life, pray for them, see the best in those we have relationships with and love them as Jesus love us.   

Discussion Questions: 

  1. What would you be willing to risk for a Bible? 
  2. Do you know how to study the Bible? If not, what could you do this week to learn how to better study God’s Word? 

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