Tonight at worship we'll be giving Bibles to 3rd graders.  For some of them, this will be the first Bible they have ever received.  I remember when I got my first Bible in 3rd grade that I ran home that Sunday afternoon, locked myself in my room and vowed that I would read through the entire thing.  I made it through a few chapters until the book of Genesis started talking about this person begatting so and so, begatting that person and so forth.  How boring!!!

 

As I prepare to teach a class to these young students, I want to find a way to let them know that the Bible is the most important book they will ever have access to in their lives.  I want to encourage them to read this book daily and use it to center and ground their lives.  I want them to know that this book has the power to mold them into the best version of themselves as well as the answers to the toughest questions in life.  The Bible can rescue us in our darkest moments and give us hope in the midst of despair.

 

Yet, I also want them to know that for all the Bible is, there is one thing the Bible isn't -- the Bible isn't God.  The Bible reveals the nature of God and inspires faith in God in the hearts of believers.  The Bible is the Word of God as it challenges our sin and consoles us in our brokenness.  But the Bible, the greatest book the world has ever known, is still not God.  The Bible is to be revered but not worshiped.  The Bible should be at the center of our devotional life but the center of every aspect of our life is Jesus Christ.

 

It's a subtle distinction to be sure but in a world when the Bible is too often used as a destructive hammer of judgment and division, might there be a way to teach our next generation how the Bible might better be used as a building block of faith, compassion and community?