One Embarrassing Fact

I've just finished reading Carl Trueman's book Reformation, Yesterday Today and Tomorrow.  He is a specialist on Martin Luther and this short book talks about the ongoing benefit and relevance of the Reformation that he was a principle player in. 

One of the points he makes is about the fact that we must not be swayed by our culture when it comes to the fact that we have to read and study in order to know God.  I hear it often "You can't expect people to read the Bible or to read Christian books because we live in a visual age....blah blah."  But we simply have to get our minds around, as Trueman says, "One embarrassing fact: God gave us a book full of words as the basic means of giving us access to his revelation".  

Some people like reading books, some people don't but the fact is God has communicated himself to us through a book and has given us teachers who teach using....books.  

And just imagine how much God is glorified through the person who finds reading difficult but who perseveres with daily Bible reading or who keeps going reading one page a day of a good Christian book in order that they can understand more of the nature and character of God.  And do you not think that God won't be cheering that individual on strengthening him and helping him?  

Trueman: "Command, promise, Messiah - the basic terms of the bible's message are ineradicably verbal and cannot be communicated in isolation from words. Bin the words and whatever else you are left with is not Christianity. We do need to think about how such a word-based religion can be communicated in this day and generation; we do need to avoid at all costs becoming a middle-class ghetto for frustrated academics. But we also need to be faithful to the Bible's own form and matter, both of which involve words at the very centre."

So let's get on with it - let's READ!  However much we struggle or don't enjoy it.  Let's stop whinging and instead make much of God by seeking to know Him more as we read His Word and the good books that faithful teachers have provided us with.  Even if it's a page a day or even a page week.   Soli deo gloria!