Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
All wise men change because all wise men understand that they must change if they are to grow spiritually to become like God. Uncle Joe said once that God is unchangeable, and that means that we must always be ready to be changed. Not many understand that truth.
After teaching the Bible to adults in community colleges for several years, I began to realize that my students almost never expected to be changed by what they would learn from the Book. If, for instance, my student was a Baptist, he expected to remain a Baptist after studying the Bible. If he was a Catholic, or a Muslim, or a Pentecostal, he expected to be a Catholic, or Muslim, or Pentecostal after learning the Bible. Students, I noticed, didn't enroll in my Bible course with hearts expecting anything real from God. No matter what they would learn, it seemed to me, they did not expect the Bible to materially change their thinking.
Some students were surprised to find that the Bible demands to be believed. Those who read it are not judging it; rather, it is judging them. Some students humbled themselves to the Book of God, and their lives were reshaped into a more perfect image of Christ. Other students quit the course when they learned that God's doctrine was different from their own. Every response was God's judgment on the hearts of the students, and all I had to do was teach and watch. The experiences through the years taught me much.
In one federal penitentiary where I taught, a big "black Muslim" named David rejected Islam and turned to Jesus half-way through the Old Testament, and I had never even brought the subject of Jesus up to the students. God taught me through such events that the Old Testament leads nowhere but to His Son Jesus, and that if I would just stay out of the way and let the student learn what was in the Book, the trail would lead to the cross . . . and then, to the Spirit. It was God's work I was doing, not mine, and if I would stay out of His way, He would accomplish it.
The only right way to approach the study of God's holy Book is to come to the Bible as nothing before God, as being ignorant and needing knowledge, as being a fool needing to be made wise, as being condemned and needing to be saved from the coming wrath. In God's kingdom, only those who confess their need will have that need supplied. Only those willing to be changed will ever be made like Jesus.
There is no need for a Christian to read the Bible unless he is willing to be made something else by the knowledge of God. It is a mistake to approach God's Book, expecting Him to be unable to add to your faith and make you more like Jesus, no matter who you are. A question that should be asked of us all is this one: Unless you are willing to be influenced by God to become something other than what you already are, why would you even want to read God's Book?