A Pastor’s Thoughts: GOD WROTE A BOOK

[By Pastor Wayne Sibrava, Living Water Baptist Church]

There have been as many as 150,000,000 books written over the course of human history. Interestingly, one book outshines them all. That book is the Bible. 

It is estimated, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, that an estimated five to seven billion copies of the Bible have been sold and distributed as of 2021. If seven billion copies of the Bible were stacked on top of each other, the stack would be roughly 175,000 miles to over 200,000 miles high, depending on the thickness of the Bibles used.  

As a pastor, the charge that was given to me on Dec. 5, 1982 was to preach and teach the Bible to the people who will be entrusted to my care. After  almost 44 years, that charge still weighs heavily on my soul.  

This does beg the question, “What is the message of the Bible?” Having been a Christian for almost 52 years and an ordained pastor for almost 44 years, I  have clearly come to understand the simple message of God’s Word, which is this: God the Father loves us: John 3:16 (NLT) ¹⁶ “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God the Son, Jesus, died for us so that we might have our sins forgiven and have eternal life in heaven: 1 Peter 3:18 (NLT)  ¹⁸ Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit. After we confess our sins and accept Jesus as our Savior, God, the Holy Spirit, comes to seal us, or to live within us: Ephesians 1:13 (ESV) ¹³ In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with  the promised Holy Spirit. THE FATHER LOVES US, JESUS DIED FOR US, THE  HOLY SPIRIT LIVES IN US.  

Yes, the Bible speaks to all the issues that our country and our world are  facing. God alone created the world some 6,000 years ago. He set the boundaries that we must live within. He set the two genders, male and female. He set the rules for marriage between a man and a woman. He determined that life begins at conception. He set the course of nature so that there will always be spring, summer, fall, and winter. HE ALONE IS GOD!  

My heart’s desire is this: that all that I have influence over would open their hearts to receive the love of God, receive God’s free gift of His great Son, and receive the salvation He offers. I am praying that it would be so!