The Jesus-Loves-Me-Bible How Essential is Scripture?

Jesus Loves Me.  That’s the song we listen to at the request of my two-year-old.  On repeat.  All.  Day.  Long.  

Not really.  I’m not that nice.  And we’d all go crazy if I was.  But it is the song Cole asks for constantly and would incessantly listen to.  The second I turn a different song on, he asks, “We listen Jesus Loves Me?  Please?”

Cole’s voice is cute and sweet.  But again, I’m not that nice.  “We just listened to it, dude.  Twice!”  I tell him.

“Whhhhhyyyyyy????”  His whiny voice is neither cute or sweet, if you ask me.

“Because you wanted to!”  I exclaim back.

Since I refuse to always oblige him with his favorite song, Cole sings it to himself.  Yes, Jesus love meeeee!  Yes.  Jesus loves ME!  Yes!  Jesus love meeeee!  The Bible tell me soooooo!  In the car.  At the dinner table.  Tucked in his bed at night.  Which is all fine by me, as his singing voice circles him right back around to cute and sweet.

The other day, then, when I sat down on the couch, Cole followed.  “I sit next to you?” he asked.

“Of course.”

Next to him, on the other side, was my Bible.  He grabbed it and questioned, “Bible?” 

“Yeah, that’s my Bible,” I answered. 

“This Jesus-loves-me-Bible?”

With a grin and melted heart, I replied, “Yep, that’s the one!”

Oh, the Bible.  To some, it’s old and irrelevant.  Some believe it’s just for pastors to read and theologians to study.  And some don’t believe in its validity at all.  But to me, it is the very precious and powerful Word of God.  It is the most valuable thing I own. 

I mean, sure, my car is pretty important; I have a lot of kids to shuffle around town for sporting practices, baseball games, swimming lessons, doctor appointments, etc.  And my bed is super important; sleeping on the wrong mattress makes my back very angry.  My house keeps me cozy when it’s freezing outside and stays cool when it’s unbearably hot.  Clothes and a food-filled kitchen are essentials I try not to take for granted, as well.  And my wedding ring holds incredible sentimental value.  None of these things, however, brought me comfort in my darkest days.  They did not hold me up or sustain me.  They did not provide peace or hope.  They did not speak words of grace and mercy over me.  They did not encourage me with love. 

The Bible did.  Scripture did.  Jesus did.    

In the Gospel of John, he introduces Jesus by saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1,14).  Scripture, therefore, is how we know God.  It’s how we come to believe in His son, Jesus.  And thanks to the Holy Spirit, it will meet us where we’re at every single time we dive in – exactly as Hebrews 4:12 says.

“For the word of God is alive and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Moreover, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).  I don’t know about you, but I need a lot of training in righteousness!  This is not a call, though, to approach reading the Bible in a legalistic way.  God’s love for us is certainly not dependent on our reading habits.  Rather, we should approach it as a priority, with discipline and with passion.  It’s an invitation, an opportunity, to meet with our Heavenly Father as often as we can, need, and want.

So, let me answer my title question with a series of questions:

How do we praise God if we don’t know who we’re praising?   

How do we serve the Lord if we don’t spend time learning His ways? 

How do we love others like Jesus did if we’re unfamiliar with His life stories?

How do we obey the Holy Spirit’s prompting on our hearts if we don’t know His voice?  

We don’t. We can’t.

On a more personal note:   

How do I recover from bulimia if I don’t know who I am in Christ?

How does my marriage survive if I don’t surrender it to the only One who can redeem it?

How do I face infertility and losing a child if I don’t trust and rely on a good and faithful God?

 I didn’t.  It took learning my identity in Christ through Scripture to abandon the lies of bulimia I was wrapped up in.  It required complete submission to the authority of God’s Word to allow Him to fix the marriage I broke.  It necessitated full dependence on Jesus and His promises to start and sustain a thriving family.  

The Jesus-loves-me-Bible is God’s love story written out for me.  And for you.  It is not an old, boring book.  It actually has some of the most interesting and fascinating stories I’ve ever read.  (Check out Genesis 38 or Judges 15 or 1 Samuel 25 for some lesser known, absolutely crazy Bible stories!)  More than one-fourth of it is prophecy, and those stories are just as jaw-dropping.  But the most beautiful and awe-inspiring thing about Scripture is that none of it fails to point us to the One it’s all about – the author and perfector of our faith - Jesus.  So don’t think for a second that it’s made up of irrelevant substance.  Don’t let it sit on your shelf unread.  Don’t build your life on the words of this world’s bestselling books.  Build your life on the Word of God.  Read the Bible daily.  Test it and see for yourself.  Discover how it overflows with God’s faithfulness and sovereignty, His grace and mercy, and His promises of hope and peace. 

I couldn’t have written my own book without Scripture.  It’s vital to my story.  It’s essential in my life.  It’s the Jesus-loves-me-Bible!