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Human Events
A Humble
Pre-Christmas Effort to Share My Enthusiasm for the Bible
David Limbaugh
Friday Dec 11, 2015
As the Christmas season approaches, I want to explain why I am so
enthusiastic about the subject matter I’ve written about in my new
book, “The Emmaus Code: Finding Jesus in the Old Testament.”
As I came to Jesus Christ kicking and screaming, I have always been
passionate about sharing the epiphanies that led me to become a
believer. I love to relate my excitement about the Bible and encourage
others to give it a chance — really give it a chance — and to avail
themselves of the full riches of God’s Word.
I admit that before I embraced the Gospel, I hadn’t given sufficient
serious thought to whether the Bible actually is the Word of God. It’s
hard to believe I was so negligent about something that matters so
much. To my surprise, I find many people today — adults included — who
seem to give this very little thought. It is one of my humble goals
with this book to nudge people to contemplate it.
For too many years, I fashioned God in my own image. I thought I could
bootstrap my way into understanding who he is without ever going to the
very book in which he reveals himself to us and shows us precisely who
he is. In retrospect, I wonder how I could have been so unserious as to
formulate my beliefs without giving the Word of God a fair hearing. How
could I have been so engrossed in my earthly existence that I
essentially ignored God’s revelation?
When — in the process of studying Christian apologetics, the Bible and
theology — it finally hit me that the Bible is the living Word of the
living God, I was blown away. I was stunned, excited and overwhelmed by
this truth that I’d avoided for too long. I finally realized that I was
holding in my hands a book whose every word was inspired by the God of
the universe. I understood that when I opened that book and began to
read it, I was opening myself up to God’s direct communication to me.
I’m not talking about sitting around in meditation imagining that I
could be receiving promptings from God, which, of course, can also be a
legitimate experience. Instead, I’m talking about reading God’s words
that were written to me and to you — words that I now understood are
unmistakably from him and directed to me individually. This is not a
matter of speculation. I had already satisfied myself by putting
Christianity’s claims to the test and realizing that every bit of
Scripture is God-breathed. I can rely on it for life as surely as I
rely on every breath I take for life.
Corniness aside, you can imagine the feelings I experienced with this
“aha” discovery. I immediately wanted to inhale every syllable of the
Bible and learn everything I could as quickly as I could. How could I
possibly ever get enough of this spiritual food?
As I began to learn more, I became eager to share what I’d learned with
my friends and family and anyone else who would listen — many of whom,
I assumed, had been every bit as negligent as I’d been about this most
serious of matters. I wanted to help them enjoy the same kind of
excitement that was overtaking me...
Read the rest of the article at Human Events
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