Just Use It

By Greg Laurie, Op-ed contributor Friday, July 22, 2005

Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. —Psalm 119:11

A Bible that is falling apart is usually the sign of a life that isn't. I like to see beat-up, marked-up Bibles that are coming apart, because that is a good sign.

I think there ought to be a Bible especially for preachers, which I have mentioned to some of the people who publish them. I have told them, "Make a preacher's Bible. Give it a steel binding." After all, preachers really use the Bible. As we are speaking, we do things like shake it, hold it up, and point to it. Why do we do that, I don't really know.

But we believers shouldn't simply shake our Bibles or hold them up or point to them. We need to read God's Word and memorize it and hide it in our hearts. It is good to carry a Bible in a purse or briefcase, but the best place to hide the Word of God is in our hearts. As the psalmist said, "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You" (Psalm 119:11).

Hide it in your heart. Know it. Then, when temptation comes, you can use God's Word to defend yourself. When opportunities come, you can use it to share the truth of the gospel with those who don't know Him. Remember that God has given us His Word to both deflect and to attack and strike blows for His kingdom.

God promises that His Word will not return void. Whether a person believes it or they don't, it won't return void. It will prosper in the place where God sends it. So use your Bible. Use it until it is falling apart!

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000