Not One Book, a Whole Library

Hey, Carpool Crew. Welcome back to Carpooling with Jesus. I'm Pastor Justin. Happy Monday. I hope you had a great weekend. Well, let's jump in with the one thing I want everyone to remember for the ride. The Bible is alive, not old. Listen to this from Hebrews 4:12. "For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword." So living means it's not a dead old book. It's active. It does something. And that same verse says that God's word is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. See, that's a fancy way of saying it knows what you were actually thinking. So open a Bible to the table of contents and count the names. 66 books. Say it with me. 66. It's not one book. It is a library on one shelf. A shepherd who became a king wrote songs. A doctor wrote down what people who were there told him about a man named Jesus. A man in prison wrote letters to churches that were just starting, and there was a guy that had a really bad experience with a big fish. And guess what? Most of those writers never met each other. They lived hundreds of years apart, and every one of them ended up pointing to the same person, Jesus. Either in the Old Testament about someone who was coming, or in the New Testament about someone who is here. It was all about Jesus. Jesus knew these words by heart, by the way. Out in the wilderness when the devil tempted him, he answered three times with, "It is written," and then said the verse. And after he rose from the dead, he walked down a road with two different friends and showed them every place the scriptures were talking about him. See, Jesus treated these pages like they were alive, because they are. So it's the first Tuesday in November, and you said something to your little brother or sister that you knew would land, and it did land, and they went quiet and walked off, kinda sad. Nobody saw it, but that night you open the Bible with the bent cover and the stickers on it, and you land on a page about your words, and your ears get hot. Nobody told on you, but a book from thousands of years ago just described your afternoon. That's what living means. So this week, here's something that you can try. Tonight, open to the book of Mark chapter one and read one page out loud. And you can do it slow, and you can do it with your parents. Not the whole book, just one page. And here's a second thing. When a verse stings, like you feel like it's talking to you, don't close it shut out of anger. Say this out loud, "God, that one is about me. Show me what to do next." See, you're not reading to finish a chapter. You're reading because God still speaks through the Bible every single day to anyone willing to open it and read it. So hey, let's go back to the one thing I want you to remember for the ride. The Bible is alive, not old. Remember, no matter where you are or how you're listening, God loves you. Parents, if this podcast is helping your family, follow the show and check out CarpoolingWithJesus.com. We fill it with tons of bonus stuff, some blogs and information, coloring sheets, just fun things that you and your kids will absolutely enjoy. Now, before you go, let's answer this question together. What is something you read or heard from the Bible that felt like it was talking straight to you? I'll see you tomorrow on Carpooling with Jesus.