It saddens me that so many Christians have a slight anxiety about Jehovah Witnesses appearing on their doorstep. Very often the reason I am given for this fear is the belief that the JW understands and knows the bible better than the Christian does. It is rarely the case that a Jehovah Witness really does know their bible well – they only learn certain key passages and use a dubious translation – but sadly it is probably true they know it better than many Christians!
That surely should be enough motivation for us to learn, know and understand the word of God!
During our 40 Days in the Word campaign next year we will be discovering a number of new ways to read and study the bible and learn how to meditate on the Word of God. My prayer is that we will learn, know, and understand the bible like we have never done before – that our knowledge would be transformed – no longer feeling inferior but confident in God's Word.
If you have kept up with the Bible in a Year, this month you are reading through the book of Revelation, we are also studying it in my Small Group where we are using the Omega course. Too often this is a book that Christians have avoided as too difficult to understand, yet that hardly seems a responsible approach to the word of God!
God has given us his whole Word and we need to persevere not only in the habits of reading it, but in studying it and seeking to understand it and learn from it. And one day we will join together in worship as John saw it in the Revelation:
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honour and glory and power, for ever and ever!" Revelation 5:13 [NIV]
As we learn God's word today, may he prepare us for that day when Jesus will come again and the whole earth will worship Him.
Martin Saxby
Read the Bible in a Year: Proverbs 30:11-23; Esther 9:1-10:3; Revelation 5:6-14
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