Monday, October 4, 2010

Peace

I'm sure you've all heard the phrase "No God, no peace. Know God, know peace." It's become commonplace enough that I think that we tend to miss the meaning.
To me, the most important part of the whole phrase is "Know God". That's one of the most important things we should ever do in our lives, get to know God. If we know Him, we know what He is like, we know what He expects of us, we know who He is. And the only way we can get to know Him is by reading His word.

I had never read the entire Bible until this year. And now, I've read it twice. That is amazing to me. And I am closer to Him than I ever have been. That should not be amazing at all. It only makes sense. Read His word, get to know Him, get closer to Him. But for some reason, I missed that for the first 38 years of my life. How on earth did I think I could get to know God without learning all I could about Him? Isn't that how we get to know the people in our lives? We spend time with them, talk to them, find out about what makes them tick. And there's only one way to do that with God, by reading His word. He told us exactly what He wants us to know about Him. And without reading the Bible, we can't figure it out.
Sure, we could still pray. But what good would that do if we pray improperly? Of if we pray for the wrong things? I can pray until I'm blue in the face for God to do something in my life, but if it is something that goes against His very nature, it's not going to happen. No matter what. And I won't know if what I'm praying for is the right thing if I don't read His word.
Reading His word is crucial to find out who He is. And I am so grateful He cared enough to make sure it was written, that it has been preserved, and that I can read it.

Reading the Bible through twice this year has been the best thing I have ever done, except for accepting the free gift of salvation. I have peace. I know God; He is my best friend. I talk to Him every day and He teaches me all the time. And I intend to stay in His presence so that our relationship continues to grow and blossom. To do that, I must continue to read His word. I have a new life-long habit now. Spending time with my best friend, my Savior, my Lord, my Jesus, my God.

Now I know God and I know peace. Nothing can ever be better than this. Nothing.