Devotion #3: Why the Bible?

In children’s ministry, you will learn that kids will say anything that comes to mind. When I started to volunteer in the kids ministry, the director put out a question box for the kids. Any question they had, we, as leaders, would try to answer. Of course, we got many questions, more or less important or serious, but there was one in particular that was basically impossible to answer, “Why the Bible?” That was it, nothing more. We, as leaders, laughed at it, and it quickly became a joke, but that kid was kind of onto something. It is important for believers to ask this question. So, I challenge you, “Why the Bible?” 

Right now we are going through the book of Romans. I want to specifically examine Romans 3:20. Paul states, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” 

As many of us know, the Bible shapes our lives as believers. We do not have Jesus walking the earth anymore, so we use the Bible to understand what God desires for us. The Bible tells us how we should act as Christians. It is our moral compass and helps us to gain God’s perfect wisdom and apply it to our own lives. 

The Bible tells us in Romans 3:10, “None is righteous, no, not one.” The Bible outlines how God wants us to act, and in turn, it shows us what we do that is not up to God’s perfect standards. Thankfully, we are not left up to our own actions to earn God’s favor. Another purpose of the Bible is to point us to Jesus, His death for our sins on the cross, and His resurrection.  

So, now we know what the Bible does, but the question is, “Why the Bible?” 

As Romans 3:20 says, no matter how much we read our Bible, how often we serve, or how good our deeds are, we cannot be justified on our own. The knowledge of our sin helps us to see the need for a relationship with our Savior. We, as believers, often get caught up in trying to do enough, and we often forget that Jesus already was and still is enough to pay the price for our sins.  

The purpose of the Bible is to allow us to not only see how God intends His people to behave, but also to show us that our actions are worthless without a relationship with Jesus Christ.