Do you ever have a dream, well, more like a nightmare, wake up, and thank God you woke up and it wasn't real? That happened to me the other night, but I haven't been able to shake it off because as much as this nightmare was only in my dreams...it is very real for many people.
My nightmare:
I was in Northern Ireland, but there was also the Jewish Synagogue from my hometown there as well. All of a sudden, these foreigners came in and began tearing apart our Bibles, burning them in the process throughout the streets. They also did the same with the Torah of the Jewish Synagogue, tearing it apart and torching it up. They made sure no trace of the Bible or Torah were in the town before they left. They didn't want anyone to have the chance to read it, meditate on it, study it...believe it. I wanted to be able to wake up from it all, the fire, the heat, the fear.
But when I woke up the fear was still there, but it was a different type of fear. The fear in the dream was for the safety of those in the city, but the fear when I woke up was one of inner fear, thinking what if that were to happen, would I even notice that sacred book was gone? Would I miss being able to crack open my Bible and read? Even more so, would I be able to recall what the Bible said, what was written in that sacred text? Would it have any effect on my life? Since the new year, I have been reading a bit of my Bible each day so that I will have read all the way through the Bible by the end of the year. Even though I grew up in the church, attended youth group and camps, and studied at a Bible college, I still haven't read the Bible all the way through, but I've wanted to for some time. I don't know if this has any effect on the fact that I had that nightmare, but when I first started it was just something I ticked off my list of things to do for the day, but after a few weeks I noticed myself getting caught up in the stories to where I wasn't paying attention to the page breaks and realized I was reading more than the daily reading recommended in order to finish in a year. It began as if I felt I needed to read it because I hadn't before, as if it were a task for the day and to achieve within the year, but now, I look forward to that part of my day, I wake up wanting it, craving it. I never thought I'd experience that. It breaks my heart to think that there are those around the world (57%) that have never even HEARD of Jesus, let alone have the Bible in their language. God hasn't called me to those who need the Bible in their language, but to a place where God's love is needed nonetheless. How can I show Christ's love if I haven't experienced it myself through His Word daily? I'm not saying if I "miss a day" I won't be able to show His love to those around me, but having His Word in my heart will bring loving words from my mouth and loving actions with my hands.
"The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart."
--Luke 6:45
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