We often hear or read of those who discount the power, truth and relativity of the Bible. The 18th century philosopher and critic of Christianity, Voltaire, said, ‘Within a hundred years the Bible will be obsolete and will have gone out of circulation altogether.’ A hundred years after his prediction the Bible was more popular than ever and still is today. What makes the Bible so popular and unique compared to other books written over time?


God’s Word is eternal and that is why it has survived in spite of all the attacks on it. It’s truth never goes out of fashion. Some books inform, and even reform. But the Bible transforms. The Bible’s aim is to point people to Christ. Nothing compares to the written Word of God for showing the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. The Bible was not given simply to increase a person’s knowledge of God but was given to change lives.


We all put our trust and security somewhere. Many today place their trust and security in temporal things of the world: money, education, job, family. In themselves there is nothing wrong with these things, but ultimately, there is only one absolutely secure place in which to put our trust, and that is in the Lord. In Jeremiah 50, Jeremiah tells the people to listen to the words and promises of God rather than the things of the world. The phrase, ‘saith the Lord’ is repeated continuously (verses 18, 20, 21, 30, 33, 40) throughout the chapter and encourages us to listen to God’s words and put them into practice. Just as Jeremiah spoke the words of God that the Israelites would be freed from Babylonian captivity and restored to their homeland (v. 19), we too can have spiritual restoration by a right relationship with God. Likewise, Jeremiah spoke of God’s promise to pardon the people of their sins (v. 20), a promise that is also available to us today simply by trusting in Jesus’ finished work on the cross.


How thankful we should be to have ready access to God’s Word. We live in a world of ungodliness that goes to great lengths to oppose the truth and power of the Bible. More than ever, it should be the highest priority to read it daily to show us truth, to correct our mistakes and to train us to live a Christ-like life.