My brother started reading the Bible. True story.
This is a miracle equivalent to feeding 5,000 people, or a $500 bank error in your favor, or finding out there’s no line on the Raging Bull AND Vertical Velocity at Great America.
Basically, I’m pretty excited about it.
It all started when we all just chilin’ at a Christian books store like a month ago, and I was like, “We should get him a Bible.” And then the clerk was all, “We have The Message New Testament on sale for $9.99.”
The Message is a really (really!) contemporary translation, which I thought he might like, so I was all “YEAH BUDDY!”. To give you an idea of how contemporary it is, regular John 3:16 is like this:
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
In The Message, it’s like this:
“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.”
So ya, a little different. And I thought it would perfect for him. But then he was all, “Nah, don’t buy it for me, I’m not going to read it.”‘
Now, I’m going to go for a second into what some people call the “crazy Christian” territory here, but I really think that was the devil trying to work against us.
And I was all, “No, just buy it for him. It’s 10 bucks. Maybe he won’t read it now, but maybe it will sit on his bookshelf for a year or two years or a decade and then one day he’ll just open it up and it’ll change his life.”
So my mom bought for him.
And when he got home, he opened it up and read almost the entire book of Matthew. And then, he took it home and kept reading. And I’m told he’s finished with the Corinthians now.
He says he’s still not sure about all this “church stuff” but he’s definitely thinking about his eternal soul now. The whole thing makes me tear up.
I keep praying that the words will touch his soul, but then I remember that you can’t read the Bible and have it NOT touch your soul.
So now I’m just praying I’ll be able to guide him through the Book of Revelation, which I’m assuming will be more challenging than just handing him the “Left Behind” book.
GOD IS GOOD!! I love stories like this.
Glad to hear that he is reading the Bible. It is amazing what miracles God can create when we just reach out even a little to someone.
I’ve read the bible, Didn’t feel a thing. I’m actually looking for someone who can actually put me through to Jesus. I think mine’s broken. Perhaps you can do me a favor and talk to the big man and ask him why He hasn’t decided to directly mention anything to me, Ever. I go about my day every single day and lots of lucky things happen all the time and yet none of them come with a tag from Jesus or Muhammad or Yaweh Or YWH Or jehova or anyone. So where do all the really bad things come from? You think it was satan? You don’t think the fact that the bible is boring was the problem? You’re kidding right? Where did all the bad come from?