founders' day
"I have found the book of the law in the temple of the Lord." —2 Kings 22:8
The day we find the Bible is one of the greatest days of our lives. Jeremiah said: "When I found Your words, I devoured them; they became my joy and the happiness of my heart" (Jer 15:16). Finding the Bible does not usually mean finding the book, but finding the book to be the word of God. We may have given "lip service" to the importance of the Bible or intellectually accepted the Bible as God's written word (see Mt 15:8), but we don't find the Bible until we believe in our hearts that the Bible is God's word (1 Thes 2:13). Then we read, pray, obey, and live the Bible every day, all day, for our whole lives. We delight "in the law of the Lord" and meditate "on His law day and night" (Ps 1:2). We keep "this book of the law" on our lips and "recite it by day and by night" (Jos 1:8). God's word becomes more precious to us "than thousands of gold and silver pieces" (Ps 119:72).
Many of you who read this book, One Bread, One Body, have found God's word. "Your rebirth has come, not from a destructible but from an indestructible seed, through the living and enduring word of God" (1 Pt 1:23). You who have found God's word are greatly blessed. You must share the word with a world that is generally Biblically illiterate, spiritually starving, confused, and rebellious. Find the word and share the word.
Prayer: Father, may I "humbly welcome the word that has taken root" in me, with its power to save (Jas 1:21).
Promise: "Give me discernment, that I may observe Your law and keep it with all my heart." —Ps 119:34
Praise: St. Irenaeus helped bridge the time of the apostles into the next century by defending the truth when it was attacked.
Reference: (Be a Bible teacher. For encouragement, order our tapes on the Bible Teachers Series. Our six-tape audio series starts with AV 117-1. Our three-part video series starts with V-117.)
Rescript: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, December 12, 2005
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