Another person once told me that the Bible contains errors and flaws.  This person said they believed the Biblical text had been altered.  From over 24,000 original manuscripts of the books of the Bible we have, we know that the original (Greek and Hebrew) text have NOT been altered.  If someone, somewhere along the line altered the translation of the original text, I believe that one of the thousands of scholarly translators would have caught an altercation in texts by now.  We have more manuscripts of books of the Bible than any other book on this planet.  The books of the Bible have been translated more than any text in the history of this world.  So, the Bible being flawed or containing errors is NOT a valid argument.

Both of these people told me they believe God speaks to them in prayer, visions, and etc.  That’s great, and I believe God speaks to us in more ways that just the Bible.  However, we must not throw the Bible out, for we are easily deceived.  Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?”  Obadiah 1:3 says, “The arrogance of your heart has deceived you”.  God gave us His word (the Bible) so we can have instructions to follow.  When we become so arrogant to say that God’s word is “an idol of a dead book” or “God’s word to us contains errors or flaws”, we have been deceived by our own heart!  Man’s heart is evil all the time!  Genesis 6:5 states, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”.  If our hearts are continually evil and easily deceived, why would we trust only our hearts?  God has given us HIS WORD (the Bible) as a guide to help us understand and know Him and what He desires for us!  God’s word (the Bible) is infallible and inerrant!  Our hearts are continually evil!  Do not be deceived, God gave us His word (the Bible) to teach us how to live our life, and to know Jesus is the Savior of the world.  Read the Bible, believe the Bible, and live by the Bible.

James 1:22 – “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”

As the news of his death hit me, I began to evaluate myself.  I asked myself questions like:  What did he see in me?  Did he see my frustrations with him?  Did he see when I became angry?  Did he see me losing hope? or, Did he see Jesus in me?  Did he see love?  I honestly do not know what he saw in me.  There were times when I would become frustrated, and there were times when I felt angry towards him.  I know that I loved him enough that I wanted him to come to know Christ, but did he see that!?

We are to be salt and light!  Salt to a tasteless people, and light to a dark world.  Are we as Christians being a tasteful light?  Are we doing our part to let people know there’s a better way to find satisfaction?  I will never again be able to speak to this young man and reach him for Christ.  My opportunity for sharing Christ with him has come and gone (though I did share Christ with him on several occasions).  There is an urgency in sharing the love of Christ with people!  No one is guaranteed tomorrow.  Will you be a tasteful light and share the love of Christ with people?

Matthew 5:13-15

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; ¹⁵ nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.