B-I-B-L-E now thats the book for me?

 Today’s chapter - John 11.  Go ahead and read the chapter now, otherwise you will be missing out on some really cool things.

First off, let me ask you a question:  Why does the Bible exist?  When you read the scripture, how do you view it?  Do you view scripture as a guidebook for daily living?  When you have a question about life, do you go and search the scripture for an answer to your question?  Now I don’t imagine you view the Bible as a magical 8-ball or a random pick and point book for God’s will, but if you’re like me then you have probably viewed the Bible as a road map for your life.  There is a popular, or used to be popular (now that I turned 30 and am getting old!), acronym for the Bible that I am pretty sure you have heard –Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.  The Bible contains all sorts of great wisdom and practices for daily living.  The B-I-B-L-E tells me everything I have to do before I die.  However, it doesn’t always answer every specific question that I have. Should I drink alcohol?  How should I treat my wife?  Is retaliation okay?  All these questions are answered by scripture.  But there are a lot of grey areas and answers that the Bible doesn’t give me.  Should I buy a snickers bar today?  Do I chance it and wait for gas to drop a few more pennies before I fill up?  Should I cheer for U of M or MSU or both, so long as they beat OSU?

Let me ask you another question now that you hopefully relate to me in this area: is the point of the Bible really about answering our practical questions, or is it about something else?  What if the Bible isn’t about us at all?  What if we aren’t the center focus of the Bible?

If the Bible isn’t about us, then who is it about?  GOD.  The Bible is a book about God.  Herbert Lockyer once wrote, “Thus, while the Bible is not about us, it is all for us.” 

Chapter 11 focuses on when Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.  Check out verse 4.  “It is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified.”  Later in verse 42 when praying to God, Jesus says, “I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”  It is ultimately for God’s glory that Lazarus was raised.  It benefited the people there, so that they may come to have faith in Jesus (as we see in verse 45). 

This week before you dive into the Bible, ask yourself: “Is this about me?  Or is this about God?”  Let us put God, Jesus Christ, at the center of scripture, because only he is worthy and it’s really all about him anyways!