THE GOSPEL IS CENTRAL TO THE BIBLE

There are 66 books, 1,189 chapters, 31,101 verses, 783,137 words, and 3,566,480 letters in the Bible. That is a lot of material for a pastor to use to prepare his sermon. And yet, a pastor on television chose one particular passage on one particular day, and it just happened to be the very chapter I had read the night before. As an atheist, I had opened a Bible for the first time because I was bored, and I needed a good laugh. The laugh was on me.

I don't exactly know what I saw the next couple of hours, but at the end of the third sermon, the preacher pointed at the camera and said, "You there in your living room, if you believe, get down on you knees and accept Jesus Christ as you Savior." I started to kneel, but as I slid forward on the couch, I caught sight of my wife in the kitchen. I froze. She would laugh me out of the neighborhood if she saw me, since I had given her such grief over taking our daughters to church. At that very instant, she turned, walked through the living room, and went out side. It was very cold out, and yet, at that exact moment, she chose to go outside in the winter, and without a coat. Neither of us knows why she went out, but the moment the door closed, I hit the floor. My life was changed forever, for in that instant, I put my complete trust in Jesus. I immediately felt different. I knew that my sin was forgiven, that the Bible was true, and that God would use me to tell others. Don't ask me how I knew. I just did.

Since that time nearly forty years ago, I have enjoyed His presence and His Word. I went to Bible College, and then to Seminary, trying to quench my thirst for knowledge of Him. Today, I have barely scratched the surface, but I love His Word more than ever. Because of it, I know that God did not use evolution to produce life as we know it. He made everything after its own kind. I know that I am a sinner, saved only because He had mercy on me. He graciously provided His Son, His Spirit, His Word, and faith so that I can be certain of my relationship with Him. And I know that someday, very soon, Jesus will return and put an end to the evil that permeates the world. We win! Praise the Lord.

In my studies, I have learned that of the 1,189 chapters in the Bible, Psalm 117 is the shortest, and its two verses call for all nations to praise the Lord (Israel does not have exclusive rights to Him). They tell of His mercy toward His creation. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter, and it contains twenty-two sections of eight verses, each proclaiming the wonder of God's Word. But right in the middle, between the shortest and the longest chapters, is the center chapter of the Bible, Psalm 118. Verse eight is the middle verse of the 31,101 verses in the Word. It says, "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." There it is; the Gospel in a nut shell. Trust the Lord. Trust Him to forgive. Trust Him to save. Trust Him to protect. Trust Him to provide. Trust Him to return. TRUST THE LORD!