We live in incredible times as it pertains to the accessibility of God’s word. Not only do we have physical Bibles, complete with Old and New Testaments, we also have digital Bibles for our computers and mobile devices. Not to mention a plethora of Bible study resources. And yet, we can still find it hard some days to sit ourselves down and read God’s word, even though we all know the importance of reading the Bible.
A really good solution — since we know that faith cometh by hearing (Romans 10:17) — is listening to an audio Bible, something we can do while driving, cooking, cleaning, eating, and so on. Listening is not lesser than reading; indeed, for many hundreds of years it was the primary and often only means by which people could come to know God’s word, such as in Jesus’ day when people would go to the synagogue to hear the word of God (Old Testament only) being read aloud.
Sean and I listen to the dramatised audio (King James) Bible by Faith Comes By Hearing, and it’s these recordings that we share to accompany verse images and so on. If you enjoy these recordings, you can download the mp3 files from Faith Comes By Hearing and save them to your own device as playlists. In the drop down list choose the version that includes “audio-drama” rather than just audio. Unless, of course, you prefer to listen to a straight reading. Alternatively, you can download the Bible.is app by Faith Comes By Hearing and then download your preferred audio Bible for offline listening.
Jesus on the Importance of God’s Word
Jesus, of course, is THE Word (John 1:1). And He tells us we must abide in him, and in his words:
I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. (John 15:1-7)
Jesus also stressed the importance of God’s word when he answered the devil by saying, “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). And when one woman said to him, “blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked”, Jesus replied, “blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it” (Luke 11:28).
Let us all, therefore, abide in Christ and in his word.
But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. (1 John 2:27-28)
Amen, and Amen!
