During Superbowl XXXVII, FedEx ran a commercial that spoofed the movie Castaway, in which Tom Hanks played a FedEx worker whose company plane went down, stranding him on a desert island for years. Looking like the bedraggled Hanks in the movie, the FedEx employee in the commercial goes up to the door of a suburban home, package in hand. When the lady comes to the door, he explains that he survived five years on a deserted island, and during that whole time he kept this package in order to deliver it to her. She gives a simple, "Thank you." But he is curious about what is in the package that he has been protecting for years. He says, "If I may ask, what was in that package after all?" She opens it and shows him the contents, saying, "Oh, nothing really. Just a satellite telephone, a global positioning device, a compass, a water purifier, and some seeds."
He had everything he needed at his fingertips... He just never opened it up.
Life-changing tools sitting dormant...unused... ineffective.
Some of us find ourselves in the same position. We feel stranded...alone... hopeless... and desperately searching for rescue. We stare at the sky and wring our hands in worry. Days pass and we wonder if anyone will ever come to our aid. And at our fingertips... there sits a Bible. God’s love letter to us... unopened, unread, and underutilized.
The answer to every life challenge is contained within the covers of the Book... yet many never go to it. Instead we sit and just hope things work out... that rescue will just happen... that the problems we find ourselves in will just float away. We put our cares on a slip of paper, put them in a bottle, and throw them out to sea... hoping they will miraculously drift to where they need to go. God wants better for us. He gave us His Word for a reason.... to assure us that life isn’t built on random luck or on the possibility that the tides will change and everything will just fall into place. God is intentional... and the Bible was given to us for a specific purpose (as seen here in 2 Timothy 3).
“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” 2 Timothy 3:16
We are to learn from God’s word... internalize the truths and wisdom contained inside it....and live out what God tells us to do on a daily basis. And when we do... when we choose to spend daily time reading it... we receive God’s blessing, priorities re-align, understanding grows, we get stronger, and life begins to have greater meaning.
We move from just surviving to thriving. From treading water to standing on solid rock.
All because we read and apply the most wonderful Book ever written.
If you find yourself struggling to get into the Word... I want to encourage you to start today. Carve out some time, choose a book (John, Romans, Acts, James... so many good starting places), and dig in. Read until God tells you something... Something that makes you stop and think. Meditate on that scripture. Memorize it. Write it down somewhere where you can see it.
And tomorrow morning when you wake up... repeat the process. Before long, you’ll have clarity and wisdom like you never thought you’d have... fewer questions about God’s heart... and a better appreciation for Christ’s love and sacrifice on our behalf.
