THE MORAL OF THE STORY:Bible is relevant today

“The Bible contains the vitamins for a healthy soul.”

— UNKNOWN

“Cindy, though I don’t particularly like the fact that I’m getting older, I do like the fact that I’ve learned certain things that I just didn’t consider or understand when I was younger,” a friend said to me. “I’ve lived through enough to make me realize that in a lot of ways, life is hard, but there are some things that make it easier.”

I enjoy the way this friend shares openly about her life, and the way she clearly likes hearing what others are going through and thinking. I was glad that we had some free time together because I was eager to hear what she was referring to, and I asked her to elaborate.

She told me she realized that just as there are things she does to help improve her physical health, such as healthy eating, exercising and taking vitamins, there are things she does to help improve her spiritual health, such as praying, going to church and reading the Bible.

“I know that you like to do those things, so I thought you’d be happy to hear that they are now important to me too,” she said. “I had no idea that the Bible was so applicable to my life today; I used to think it was just out of date. But the other day, what I read reminded me not to worry so much about the insignificant things in life, and another time what I read encouraged me to go to a friend and ask her to forgive me for something I did that I know hurt her. She was happy to forgive me, and I feel so much freer inside. You know how it just feels right and good when you’re doing the right things physically? Well, it’s sure the same way for me spiritually.”

I loved hearing the excitement in my friend’s voice, and enjoyed our visit. I told her that I enjoy reading a One Year Bible, which is laid out with a readable amount of the Old and New Testaments for every day in such a way that you can read the whole Bible in one year. It’s been amazing how often there has been a passage that speaks to exactly what I am going through on the specific day that I read.

The best example was years ago when I had a short amount of time to decide about whether to go on a short-term mission trip to Egypt with my husband and a few others. The trip was during an already busy time, and I was vacillating on my decision. On the exact day that I had to decide, there was a portion during my daily Bible reading that included the following: “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt … I will go down with you to Egypt.”

It turned out to be a wonderful and unforgettable trip.

My friend loved that story and thought she might start reading a One Year Bible also.

“I’d love to see how God speaks to me on the specific days, and then I’ll always know what the date is too!” she said and laughed.

I think that God wants to communicate to us, and the Bible is certainly filled with the right vitamins to bring health to our soul.

And you can quote me on that.