READ THE BIBLE

READ THE BIBLE

We were privileged to have brother Philemon Rajah with us from India last weekend. We have been supporting his work in the city of Madurai for several years. It was good to meet him face to face and hear firsthand of the work that is being done there. The city’s population is about 2.5 million, about 90% Hindu. He and the other Christians face great challenges in spreading the gospel. However, they continue the work and are successful in reaching lost souls. They are also doing a great work among the blind population, about 25,000, in the city. We appreciate the work he is doing there and pray for his continued safety and success.

Philemon presented the lesson for our Sunday evening service. If you were not here, you missed an excellent sermon. He stressed to us the importance that we “read the Bible, read the Bible, read the Bible! He pointed out that the Bible is sweeter than honey, a treasure greater than gold, and the source of blessings. He issued a challenge that we rededicate ourselves to reading the Bible, and especially the New Testament. As he stated, by reading 9 chapters a day we can read the entire New Testament in one month.

I join with Philemon in challenging all of us to become daily Bible readers. This is not just so we can say we have done so, but because of the tremendous blessings we will receive by doing so. “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Joshua 1:8). “Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2). In addition to the blessings received from studying God’s word, there is the fact that we will be judged by it. “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).

Let us be thankful for the work being done by Philemon and others in India. Let us pray for their continued safety and success. Let us heed the words of Philemon’s challenge to us, “Read the Bible, read the Bible, read the Bible.”

--Lamar