Is the Book of Eli in the Bible?
That’s the question my brother asked during a recent visit. To be honest, his question caught me off guard.
You see, our conversations about Jesus or anything even remotely related to the Bible have always ended in ridicule, sarcasm and a touch of animosity -- with me being the target of it all. Since our talks have only scratched the surface of his spiritual belief system, I have no idea of what he thinks will happen a nanosecond after he crosses over into eternity. For all I know he has made plans to be buried with Oprah in a giant sarcophagus.
Oprah Invites Hundreds Of Lucky Fans To Be Buried With Her In Massive Tomb
Yet, the fact that he asked if the Book of Eli was in the Bible gives me hope. I have come to believe that it’s not the people who mock or ridicule my faith that I should be concerned about; it’s those who never say a word who are the ones in the most danger of dying without Christ.
An Epistle, Known and Read of by All Men
The IMDB synopsis of The Book of Eli describes Denzel Washington’s character as “a mysterious man who walks around a destroyed world carrying a book he believes can save humanity.” Eli spent 30 post-apocalypic years reading and studying the Bible. By the time Eli reaches his destination, he has ingested enough Bible to dictate scripture word for word from Genesis to Revelation.
It was Eli’s dedication to God’s word that led him to commit the entire Bible to memory. Those of us who call ourselves followers of Christ are often sorely lacking in Bible knowledge. You would be shocked at the number of professing Christians who have never even read the Bible all the way through from Genesis to Revelation.
Why is Bible study important? Because we are being “read” every day by our family, friends, co-workers, and strangers. When our actions don’t match our profession, how can we possibly expect others to even want to know God? The only way our actions have any hope of matching our profession is if we operate from a foundation of sound doctrine. That can happen only when we spend time with God meditating (chewing) on His word.
The Book of (your name here)
So, what are people reading when they look at you? At me? In all honesty my “book” started out as a tragedy. The first chapters cover 30 years of misery. There was a lot of lying, stealing, cheating -- you name it. Then, the plot thickened. Jesus Christ pursued and won me at 31. The tide turned. The princess was rescued and became engaged to her King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
But The Book of Brenda is far from over. There are others that need to be told about the King who is coming so they too can experience their own personal happy endings, new beginnings and forever be in the Lord’s presence.
My friends, the Bible is a book that can save humanity. But you have to read it and meditate on it and pray for the Holy Spirit to give you the wisdom to understand it. Then, by faith, you act on what you’ve learned. Line upon line, precept on precept, here a little, there a little. It all takes time.
But the beautiful thing about this process is that no matter how many times you journey through those 66 books, God will always have a fresh word for you. It is an eternal book written in eternity.
How will your book end?
