The other day I saw a kindle ebook titled "In Pursuit" advertised for Free.
Now I will always give an ebook a second glance if it is free but sometimes on my iPad the picture of the book is quite small so as this was the case I enlarged the picture and then ended up laughing out loud (no one heard me as Fred was resting in front of the TV in the lounge after having a tooth extracted and I was in my study).
Why did I laugh?
Because I could not believe the tagline of the ebook
"Devotions for the Hunter & Fisherman"
Now I come from Northern Ireland and we have few hunters here.
Even when we lived in the US for 3 years we did not live in an area known for a lot of hunting.
Northern Ireland does have a lot of Fishermen though but of the ones I know I could not imagine any of them looking for a devotional book specifically for them.
Anyway after I laughed the next thing out of my mouth were the words
"Next we will have Bibles produced specifically for people of all different interests"
and yes I was still on my own and no-one could hear me but have you never talked to yourself?
Then I realised that we had already reached this ridiculous point in life.
Yes already we had reached the point where the publishers of Bibles as well as devotionals were specifically targeting all the different sections of the community to sell more books and Bibles.
I had to wonder why?
Was the bible written with different verses for a man than for a woman?
Was the bible written with different verses for a single person than a married one?
Was the bible written with different verses for a Pentecostal than an Anglican?
Was the bible written with different verses for a teenager than for an adult?
Was the bible written with different verses for a hunter than for a doctor?
Did we need to have a different Bible for an engineer
than for a teacher or a housewife?
Because if so then my husband the Mechanical Engineer and I a Mathematics Teacher turned Housewife, could not read the same Bible together because of our occupations and of course also because we are not of the same sex.
Just think-
We could not have read the Bible as a family together when the kids were teenagers.
We could not read the Bible together as a family now because some are Pentecostal and some are Anglican.
We could not read the Bible together as a family now because some are single and some are married.
What would be next?
Would we have to have different Bibles for people of all different race or nationality?
Let's put some pink or purple covers on them because that will appeal to the females
they had decided at one stage.
Well I certainly didn't get hooked in then because I much prefer black or brown or blue books so no pretty feminine looking Bible for me.
But of course this was nothing to do with it at all - they simply wanted to sell more Bibles.
Now I know I'm sounding a bit extreme but my main problem is not with all the different speciality bibles or devotionals so much as with the purpose of our bibles.
When the Bible was written I am so thankful that it was written for all of us regardless of gender, age, race, intelligence etc.
When Jesus came to this earth He came for one specific reason
to do His Father's will
and be the ransom for each one of us,
the one who would take all our sins on himself and die in our place
I am so thankful that He did not differentiate between us.
So this inspired Word of God which was written for all of us to know the Truth of the Lord Jesus Christ and be set free from our old self and renewed by God's Spirit; was written for each and every one of us.
And it doesn't matter
how many bibles we have,
what size they are,
how expensive they are,
how many notes are included in them,
how used or how new they are,
or what colour they are.
The important thing is that we read our Bible and we grow in the Grace of our Lord and Saviour as we do so.
So the question is - Are You in Pursuit
Are you reading your bible?
Are you praying for understanding of what you are reading in your Bible?
Are you praying for direction and guidance by the Holy Spirit as you read your Bible?
Are you actively, regularly, hungrily, reading your Bible?
Are you looking to gain insight and truth as you read your Bible?
Are you praying that you will rightly apply what you read in your Bible to your everyday life?
Are you depending on God for your nurture from your Bible (His Word) and not just listening to what other people say about it.
Are you looking to preachers and teachers of sound doctrine when you need more help to fully understand some passages from your Bible?
Are you in PURSUIT of the truth and edification in God's Word?
I know I'm not in pursuit of God's Word as much
as I should be.
Are you?
Let's be encouraged today to go read that passage we have been meaning to read.
Let's be encouraged today to relax & drink in from God's Word no matter what colour our bible might be.
