Do you believe that God's word is powerful?

I do. I gave a Bible to a new friend not too long ago, after hetold me he didn't own one. I was trying to share the gospel with him and heexpressed some interest in following up and reading the Scripture for himself,so I gave him a copy. I am still waiting and praying for God to do a work inhis life through His word. And I believe He will.

Gaylord Kambarami, head of the Bible Society in the Africannation of Zimbabwe, tried to give a New Testament to a belligerent man who atfirst said he wanted no part of a Bible. When Kambarami insisted, the man saidhe would tear out the pages and roll them to make cigarettes. "Okay,"said Kambarami, "I understand that, but at least promise to read the pageof the New Testament before you smoke it." The man agreed and the two wenttheir separate ways.

Fifteen years later, the two men met at a Methodist conventionin Zimbabwe. The Scripture-smoking pagan had found Christ and was now afull-time evangelist. He told the audience, "I smoked Matthew, I smokedMark, and I smoked Luke, but when I got to John 3:16, I couldn't smoke anymore.My life changed from that moment on."

God's word is like that. It is living and active, sharper thanany double-edged sword and able to penetrate even to dividing soul andspirit. It is God-breathed, and so it is helpful for teaching, rebuking,correcting and training in righteousness. And, it is life-altering andtransformative, when you make the decision to be more than hearers of theword, but doers.

According to a Barna survey from a few years back, almost everyhousehold in America (92 percent) owns at least one copy of theBible--with the typical count being three Bibles per household. I would imaginethe typical Shelby Crossings family has more than double that.

Yet, according to Barna, less than four out of ten adults (38percent) read the Bible during a typical week. The saddest part is the studyrevealed that there's little difference between how much those who callthemselves Christians are reading the Bible and those who don't. You might aswell be smoking it if you're not reading it.

Romans tells us that faith comes by hearing the word of Christ,and Jesus mentioned in John's gospel that we are sanctified by the truth ofGod's word. I want to challenge you to make a concerted effort to spend timedaily in God's word, allowing His truth to renew your mind and transform yourlife. Be assured, your growth as a disciple of Christ will only go asfar as your commitment to His word.  Please don't neglect hearing it,reading it, meditating on it, or obeying it.

I am praying for you, as I hope you are for me, and I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

--Pastor Ken