Diary of a Bible

[Selected]

Recently I read the "Diary Of A Bible." I do not know the author. Any one of millions of Bibles covered in dust could have written the following:

January 10. Been resting for a week. The first few nights of the New Year my owner read me regularly, but he has now forgotten me already, I guess.

February 7. Clean up time. I was dusted with other things and then put back on the shelf.

February 9. Owner used me for a short time after dinner looking over a few references. Went to Bible school today.

March 6. Clean up. Dusted again. Have been in the hall since my trip to Bible school last month.

March 30. Busy day. Owner had young people's meeting and had to look up references. He had an awful time finding them but they were there all the time.

May 3. In Grandma's lap again this afternoon. She spent most of her time in 1st Corinthians 13 and the last four verses of the 15th chapter.

May 7, 8, 9. In Grandma's lap again this afternoon. She spent most of her time reading and sometimes she just talks to me. It is so comfortable there.

May 10. Grandma is gone. Back to the same old place. She did kiss me bye before she left.

July 3. Had a couple of four-leaf clovers stuck in me today.

July 4. Packed in a suitcase with clothes and other things. Off on vacation I guess.

July 7. Still in suitcase.

July 10. Still in suitcase, though all else has been taken out by now.

July 15. Home again in my old place. Quite a nice journey they say, though I did not see why.

Aug. 1. Rather stuffy and hot. Have two magazines, a novel and an old hat on top of me.

Sept. 10. Used by Mary for a few minutes today. She was writing a letter to a friend whose brother died and wanted appropriate verses.

Sept. 23. New mail order catalogue came today. Certainly is getting a lot of attention. More than I ever received.

Oct. 10. Wished someone would take these stinking four-leaf clovers out of me. They have been here five months now, and they tickle me, they are so dry and flaky.

Nov. 29. Thanksgiving season. Was taken to church last Sunday.

Dec. 31. End of another year. Not interesting for me. Maybe next year. &

-- Via "The Pointer," Volume VI, Number 31, October 13, 1974

WHY SOME DON'T BELIEVE #2

By Bill Walton

Some people do not believe in God, and Christ, and the Bible because they are unwilling to believe anything that would condemn their ungodly way of living. This is exactly the charge the apostle Paul makes in his letter to church at Rome:

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools…. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Like­wise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness," etc. (Rom 1:18-22, 24-29).

Aldous Huxley, himself an atheist, tacitly agreed with Paul's charge in a bold confession he made on page 270 of his book, Ends and Means: “I had motives for not wanting the world to have meaning. And consequently assumed that it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. For myself, as no doubt for most of my contemporaries, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially a philosophy of liberation. The liberation we desired was simultaneously liberation from a certain political and economic system and liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom.” &

UNCEASING PRAYER

By Bob Myhan

In previous lessons we have discussed the usefulness of, and need for prayer. We have seen prayer as our solemn duty to God, to ourselves and to others. It is the avenue by which we praise and give thanks to our Creator, petition Him for our own needs, and entreat Him on behalf of others. However, if we are to take full advantage of the power of prayer, we must realize the urgency of spending a great deal of time talking to God. We must make our petitions often, leaning heavily on His shoulder for the help we all need in this life.

We are instructed to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). On the surface, one might think this is a rather extreme request to make of someone. After all, it seems that there is no possible way that we could spend all of our time praying, since there are other duties that demand our attention. Paul was probably not speaking “of what is not interrupted, but of that which is constantly recurring” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, p. 179). “Importunity” is the persistence with which we may approach a loving God (Matt. 15:22-28; Gen. 18:23-32). It is also an indication of our confidence that God will not renege on His promise to grant our petitions. But we ought always to remember that He will re­spond to our tenacity according to that which He, in His omniscience, deems appropriate.

We should never permit uncertainty, anxiety, skepticism, or depression to stop us from praying (Luke 11:5-13; 18:1-8). Neither should we find fault with God when our requests are not granted without delay. And we should reject any suggestion of failure on God’s part. Rather, we should remember that He bears long with us according to His eternal purpose and manifold wisdom, and that any delay gives us another opportunity to examine our petition. If we find that we have been asking for something which is not in harmony with God’s revealed will, we should realize that it will not be given and stop asking for it. On the other hand, if we discover that the request is compatible with what He has revealed, we should continue making the request until it is granted or until we have learned to live without it. But we can be sure that He has a good reason for not having bestowed it.

Neither should we allow civil authorities to deter us from praying (Dan. 6:4-11). If and when political oppression comes we should not cease praying but pray all the more, chiefly “for kings, and for all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence” (1 Tim. 2:2). &