“All Scripture is God- breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” 2 Timothy 3:16
The first five words of this verse are jarring- I can almost hear the screech of the brakes causing me to pause everything. I must have read the verse a gazillion times over the years, and I really, completely believe it as truth… so why the alarm bells and flashing lights all of a sudden? Quite simply, it’s because of the utter depth of those five words.
This Bible, this love letter from God Himself which we choose to pick up and peruse from time to time, and turn to for answers when we are feeling either desperate or super-spiritual- this Bible is “God-breathed”. It’s holiness and truth, full of God’s wisdom and inspiration.
And not just select clippings of the book; not merely the beautiful literature in Psalms or the exciting stories we are told as children about giants and whales and miracles. It’s ALL God-breathed.
Every. Single. Word.
The instructions on how we should be living Christ-filled lives today are not gentle suggestions in case we don’t have it all together- they are commands from the Almighty, written there especially for us. The “stories” about Moses and David and Jonah and Jesus are not flannel graph fodder. They are God-breathed. They are there for US to learn and grow and ultimately they reveal the immensity of the Father’s love for His children.
Pure truth; words full of love and grace and mercy and hope drip from the pages of our Bibles, and are ours for the taking…
If we (if I) will only take the time to read it, bearing in mind the five words. We will see with fresh eyes, read with renewed vigour, and a hunger will evolve in the pit of our bellies which can only be fed by the Living Word.
“All Scripture is God-breathed”, and we have the absolute privilege of hearing from the Creator every day because it’s right there in black and white at our very fingertips.
I, for one, am in awe. Yet again…
