On Saturday, I will give a bible to a Soldier at my Reserve unit. His first ever bible. He has made this request, never having possessed a copy of the scriptures before. Something is working inside of him, this forty-something year old senior enlisted Soldier, prompting him to reach into the Word of God for the first time.

Now, knowing this Soldier, and not wishing to make a big scene, for his sake, I will probably just slip it to him privately. But this is what I really want to say to him:

The book that now rests in your hands holds the meaning of life. This book contains everything you will ever need to know about who God is, who you are, what you mean to God, what God has done for you, what your place is in this world, and how you should respond to that knowledge.

This book contains the power to set you free from the bonds of this world, from everything that is passing away, so that you can be truly free to be who God created you to be.

Within its pages is the foundation of a divine morality, a way of being in this world that draws out the best in humanity and mirrors the heavenly kingdom.

But this book will also frustrate you. You will read it, looking for answers, but more often than not you will come away with only more questions.

You will find passages that appear to contradict each other, and stories that appear to justify ruthless or evil behavior. Even from the mouth of Jesus, you will find words which appear to condemn, to punish, and to exclude.

You will find it hard to reconcile the loving, compassionate God, with the apparently bloodthirsty, vengeful God. Yet, there is only one God. You will be confused, hurt and quite possibly repulsed at times.

Do not give up. Never stop reading this book. Just because you have read a passage once does not mean that you understand it. It is the Living Word – your perception will shift, passages will be meaningful one week and less so the next, but the God that is described in these pages will never change. You will change.

Do not read this book selectively. Do not use it to as a weapon. Do not use it to attack or raise yourself up at the expense of someone else.

Don’t ever stop reading this book. Do not put the bible on your bookshelf, only to gather dust. Keep it close. Keep reading. Keep asking questions.

And don’t treat this bible like it’s a talisman, something that will keep you safe, if only you keep it in a prominent place in your home, or in your kitbag when we deploy. A bible that is unopened, is just another book. A bible that is unread, is just taking up space on a shelf.

Read this bible every day. Live the Word. It is light and life.

These are the things I will be thinking, as I hand that bible over on Saturday.

But let’s be honest. How often do we think about the gift we have at our fingertips? How often do we realize the power of this book, to change our lives for the better? 

How regularly do we read it, honestly? How much do we take it for granted? If we do read it, how much do we take in? How much do we let it challenge us?

Pick up your bible!

Read it – let it read you.

Open it up with awe and wonder – like it’s the first time you’ve ever read these words. And then tell someone about it. Tell me, tell everyone.

What a gift we have been given.

Blessings and peace,
Fr. Nick