By TOM PALMER, Pastor, College Avenue Friends Church
April 28, 2008 10:45 am
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Last Tuesday night I was privileged to speak at the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship meeting at William Penn University. I asked all of them to bring up front the “contraband” that I was seeking. They gave me a quizzical look. Then I explained I wanted them to “turn over” their cell phones. It was pretty impressive; nearly everyone had a nice, new fancy “do-it-all” phone. I would love to have the money tied up in those gadgets! Who says college students are poor!
My assigned topic for the evening was “The Importance of Bible Study in the Summer.” I asked them how they would like to give up their phones for the summer. What would it be like? But would they give up or neglect reading their Bible for the summer? Think of how we depend on our cell phones now. What would happen if we used the Bible as often as our phones? Yes, it is so good to have in an emergency but what about just keeping in touch with those closest to us? Shouldn’t God be that close companion as well?
Cell phones are great now for texting. What better texts than John 3:16, Psalm 23, Romans 8:28? Nearly everyone carries a cell phone around with them — ready at a moment’s notice! The Bible may be the best selling book every year but we as a nation are getting more and more biblically illiterate as the days go by. Few people carry a Bible with them either on their person or in their heart. I remember an old memory verse from back in those days when we had to memorize scripture: “Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee (Psalm 119:11).” When was the last time you memorized even a small verse to “carry with you?”
I have yet to find a free cell phone even though some are supposedly free. They come with monthly service fees. Maybe if we charged to read the Bible people would appreciate it more. Before the days of printing presses they had to chain the Bibles to the pulpits because people wanted them so bad they would steal them. We take for granted what it took so much to preserve and pass on and Christ has paid our eternal “connection fee!”
I don’t know if I made any difference in some college students’ lives. Pray with me that the Word of God will be alive for them this summer and all the days of their lives. How about you and me? Can we shake off the dust from the Good Book? If you don’t attend a church where God’s Word is preached, find one and go! Get into the habit of daily devotional reading. Pastors and Sunday School teachers can help you find some helps. Would you make sure your children or grandchildren attend a Vacation Bible School this summer where the Bible is taught and Jesus’ love is celebrated?
Next time you reach for your cell phone maybe you can remember this comparison. God’s Word is better “than thousands of coins of gold and silver (Psalm 119:72)” and even a Blackberry or i-POD!
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