The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever. Isaiah 40:8
As I sat at my kitchen table early one recent morning, I found my youngest son’s Bible there. I opened it and read the inscription on the dedication page. The study Bible was a gift from my dad to his grandson and Isaiah 40:8 was written, under his name, in his scrawly handwriting: “The word of our God endures forever.” And I thought to myself, “that’s the legacy I received from my father… that he’s now imparting to his grandson: The resolute assurance that God’s Word is true and it’s the only solid foundation upon which a life can be built.
You may be unaware that back in 1963, my dad, Harold Sala, pioneered the 5-minute commentary on Christian radio. Christian radio was pretty much all sermons and organ music back then. But he wanted to bring the truths of God’s Word to bear on the problems of the human condition, issues that we all face, and he wanted to do it in a cross-cultural, non-churchy way. In a way that the average man and woman “on the street” could relate to. I’m so thankful to be able to carry on this task, as Guidelines president.
The Guidelines Commentary, bringing the Word five minutes at a time, has helped build the bridge to salvation and encouragement in Christ for many over the years and throughout the world because it’s been solidly based on God’s inspired Word, the Bible. Storms of life are sure to come, but God’s Word sustains, comforts, and guides. That is, if you read it. The vast majority of Americans own at least one Bible, according to recent research commissioned by the American Bible Society. Almost half of those surveyed said that the Bible should have more influence on society today but only a third say they read it weekly. Yes, you do have to read it and you have to do what it says.
I grew up never doubting God’s Word because of the example I saw lived out day after day. Now no teen likes to get up early, but when I had to I would hear my parents down in the kitchen, seated at the table with their mugs of coffee and their Bibles–quietly reading the Word together and praying. Every. Single. Morning. I might not have liked every restriction they put on me as a kid, and struggled with the pressures of growing up in ministry, but, I never doubted the Word of God and its power.
My dad has often told the story of George Mueller, who was converted as a student in Germany, primarily as the result of listening to a friend pray. Mueller would become known for his work with orphans in the past century and he was also known for never making public appeals for money, a policy we’ve always had here at Guidelines. But Mueller became a powerful man of prayer and it was his confidence in the Word of God which enabled him to pray with power. Said Mueller, “The first three years after conversion, I neglected the Word of God. Since I began to search it diligently the blessing has been wonderful. I look upon it as a day lost when I have not had a good time over the Word.”
I’ve actually come to realize that the only day I’ll be able to navigate with any measure of grace at all is one that starts in God’s Word. What about you? Whether you live in the United States, the Philippines, Kenya, Indonesia, Turkey or Ecuador, the uncertainly of life has no doubt rocked you too. Have you found that God’s Word is the only solid foundation for your life?
Find a Bible version in a language that’s understandable to you. Read it and you will find that God speaks to you intimately and regularly. It’s the only solid foundation for your life and mine.
Resource Reading: 2 Timothy 3:14-17
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