Just found your faith? You should read this book...

Since finding my faith, there's a book that has helped to guide me in all aspects of my life. And it can do the same for you.

What if I was to tell you there is a book that is personalised to you? It can help you on your journey to becoming a "good Christian". It will show you where you have gone wrong in the past, and it will guide you along the right path. But more than that, it will help you in your day-to-day life, whether that be in business, personal, relationships, or whatever. 

When you need something this book will always come up with the answer - and you will know it will always be the right answer (even if it's not the answer you're hoping for).

"So, what is this magical book, then?"

Quite simply, it is THE BIBLE!

It comes under many names: "The Word of God", "The Holy Bible", "The Lord's Scriptures", "The Good Book", but whatever it is called, it is the book you should be reading every day, and studying it as often as possible.

This book really will provide you with the answers to all your questions, about  your own life, and how to live it better, and be a better Christian. 

Okay, I guess you're now thinking two things:

"The Bible is so out of date! It's full of old language and almost unreadable."

and

"It's been round for hundreds of years, HOW CAN it be personal to me?"

So, let me answer those in order.

The language in the Bible is too old fashioned

Many people's first experience of the Bible is with the King James Version and, yes, it can be a very hard read. It was first published in the 1600s, and it keeps the language of the time. So, it is full of sentences like:

• And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.

• And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

• That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed

And I completely agree, that language is very archaic and almost impossible to understand for today's reader.

However, there are many versions of the Bible nowadays, and a lot of them are far easier to read. Just a few are:

• New Living Translation (NLT)
• New International Version (NIV)
• New American Standard Bible (NASB)
• English Standard Version (ESV)
• Amplified Bible (AMP)

...and so on. 

The Bible I use day-to-day is the New Living Translation, and while this doesn't translate every word from the original Hebrew or Greek, it does give a good overview of what is meant. 

So, to give a comparison, if we take one of the sentences from above:

And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." (Exodus 3:5 KJV)

In the New Living Translation this becomes:

“Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground." (Exodus 3:5 NLT)

As you can see, it's far easier to understand.

There are those who believe the King James Version is the authoritative version, and nothing else will do, but this isn't the case any more. In fact, for many scholars it comes fourth on a list of most accurate translations. But, unless you are going to be a scholar yourself, do you really need to know the exact translation? Wouldn't it be better to use a version you understand?

Now, don't feel you have to go out and spend a lot of money on a Bible right away. If you are happy to read off a screen, be it computer, or phone, there are many websites that allow you to read the Bible for free, and some have apps you can download. My personal preference is bible.com. 

This site has the bible to read, completely for free, there's no adverts, requests for payment, etc., the whole Bible is available to you. More than that, you can try the different versions mentioned above, you can highlight and bookmark passages, compare a passage across different versions, and so on. They also do an excellent Bible app, which is a great way to read  the Bible on the move, or just when you don't want to sit at a computer. It also has audio versions, so you can listen to it as well.

I really recommend you give bible.com a try (and, in case you're wondering, no, I haven't been paid to recommend this site). 

Even if you prefer to read in print, try the different versions on the website to find the one you are most comfortable with, and then purchase a printed copy of that. 

So, it's not the Bible that's inaccessible, it's just the wrong version for you.

The Bible is personalised to you

So, how can a book that has been around for hundreds of years, and some of the original documents are as old as 2700 years(!), be personalised to someone in the 21st Century? This is the awesome power of the Bible, despite its age, it is as relevant today as it's always been!

You can read the Bible, and find answers to any question in your life. It also shows you how you can lead a more godly life, but also show you where you have gone wrong.

I'm going to share a very personal example with you. A passage in the Bible showed me a major flaw in my character, that I've had most of my adult life, and which I now admit has lost me some really good friends over the years. 

When I first read this passage, I sat back stunned. I could not believe how this jumped out at me, it was as though it was written with me in mind.

Here is the passage (something you will notice with many modern Bibles, is when Jesus speaks, his words are printed in red). 

Let's just set the scene quickly, Jesus has been invited to a big dinner in someone's home, and while sitting there he watches the other guests.

When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit in the seats of honour near the head of the table, he gave them this advice:“When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the seat of honour. What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited? The host will come and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you will be embarrassed, and you will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table!

“Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place for you!’ Then you will be honoured in front of all the other guests. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 14:7-11 NLT)

This passage blew me away. It was as though Jesus had watched me at events, always trying to get into one of the most important seats.

You see the chap in the blue shirt, sitting right at the front? That's me! This was at an event in a town in Germany

Now, the chap sitting opposite me, in the white shirt, with rolled up sleeves, is the "Oberbürgermeister" - or the Mayor of the district that we were in. Mayors in Germany, as well as most of Europe, are very powerful, unlike most of England where Mayors are usually just figureheads, but have little actual power. Behind him, is a high-ranking official in the Town's council. The black lady behind him was the then Mayor of my town in England. Opposite her, the chap with a white shirt (and no tie) is the Mayor of a large town in France. And if we look at the next table, the man in the blue jacket and yellow tie, is the bürgermeister (Mayor) of the town we are in, and his table also has high-ranking officials, and special guests. 

So, looking back at the passage in the Bible, if you change "wedding feast" to "German festival", there I am sitting in one of the seats of honour.

Actually, it's at this point, I should give full disclosure. The above photo is "staged". As it happens, I was actually sitting much further back (my wife was still in our original position), but I had come up to say something to the Mayor of my town, when a photographer from the town's newspaper wanted to take a photo, and the Oberbürgermeister, who I do know quite well, said to me to sit down for the photo. However, that doesn't take away from the fact that this photo is a perfect example, of how I would try and sit in an important seat at events.

This was such a shock - and the first time I felt the Bible had really "spoken" to me. I guess I always knew I had this character flaw, but in the past I hadn't cared, I just wanted to be with all the important people - to look as though I was important. And like I said above, sadly, over the years this has lost me several good friends.

We go to this event every year, and I had really hoped to have gone this year, so I could be more like I should be, sitting at the "lower tables" and if I got invited up to "the seats of honour" then treat it more humbly - but of course in 2020, because of the Coronavirus, the event didn't take place. 

So, you can see, from this example, just how the Bible can speak to you. You may be reading the Bible, or looking for a particular answer to something, but if you keep your eyes open you will find the answer contained within this book.

I said at the start of this blog entry that you should study the Bible every day, which is very good advice. However, how you study the Bible, while not difficult, does take a bit of explaining, so that will be the subject of a future post.