Winds blow. Storms come. The kids need braces. Your calendar is overcommitted. You are failing biology. You are so behind on withholding enough money for the IRS.
The Bible is going to keep you from drifting off course even when the winds blow. Why? Because the Bible is God’s wind, stronger than any wind of this world or storm in your life.
Imagine you’re holding a harmonica. Can it make music? Of course, but how? Will it make music if you hold it up to your ear? No. If you wave it around, or bang it like a drumstick? No. But if you blow into it, the harmonica makes music. Pushing air through your lungs and lips, you breathe your wind into the instrument and out comes music!
“All Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16).
God breathes his own character and being into the Bible, pushing his divine air into the instruments—the Bible writers—and giving or guiding every word in the Bible to be holy and divine, without error. Every word of the Bible is God’s Word.
So all of the Bible is God speaking himself into you, speaking forgiveness, speaking hope, speaking life, speaking love, speaking answers to your prayers.
It’s his breath, which was strong enough to create life in Adam who was just a pile of dirt, miraculous enough for the apostles to speak in unstudied foreign languages on Pentecost, forgiving enough for Jesus to breathe on his friends who had forsaken them and say, “Peace be with you” (John 20:21), saving enough for Jesus on the cross to exhale one last time before dying and at that moment pay for the sins of the world, and life-changing enough that three days later Jesus inhaled his first resurrected breath to live once again and promise that you will, too.
Is it windy in your life? It might be a storm. But more than that, it’s the breath of God speaking his Word, speaking truth and life and forgiveness and peace.
PRAYER: I believe that you have so much to tell me, God. I want to be a better listener, and tune into your Word. Holy Spirit, enlighten me, and open my eyes and heart to divine truths. As I grow in your Word, lead me to give it also to others. Amen.
FURTHER MEDITATION: Consider a 1% improvement in one of the following areas of Bible reading growth:
- Consistency—Do the same thing a bit more regularly. Consider a written schedule and an accountability group. Ask family or friends to join the journey.
- Impact—Take God’s Word for that day with you in a more life-changing way. It will filter how you see circumstances and people. It will clarify with decision-making. It will speak more loudly than competing lies or distractions. You will use it when communicating to people. Consider scribbling a few notes about these in a journal at the end of each weekday.
- Content—If you don’t know where to start, begin by faithfully reading these CrossWords meditations and doing the “further study” each weekday. If you’re looking for something new or more guidance, explore YouVersion by starting here:https://youtu.be/4k2AR4OU9jU. There’s even a Bible app for kids.
- Overview—You are reading the Bible, but looking for the bigger picture. Where did the books of the Bible come from? What are the Bible’s main themes? Take a tour of The Bible Project at https://youtu.be/vFwNZNyDu9k.