There are four great things that are real and living yet altogether mysterious, invisible, abstract, and intangible: God, Christ, the Spirit, and the divine life. To believers these things are real and living. Without these four great things, the Christian life is empty and meaningless. The way we touch and experience God, Christ, the Spirit, and life is by the word of God in the Bible. The word of God is the embodiment of God. Without the Bible, God is altogether untouchable, but through the Bible we can touch God. Any time we come to the Bible with an open heart, even before we open the book, we have the sense that we have come into the presence of God. This is not a psychological phenomenon, for it is impossible to reproduce the same feeling when coming to a secular magazine or newspaper. Sensing that we are in the presence of God when we come to the Bible can be likened to feeling cold when we go outside on a cold day—the sense indicates a fact. We sense that we are in the presence of God when we come to the Bible, because the Bible is the embodiment of God, Christ, the Spirit, and the eternal life of God.
We need to see what the Bible says about itself. Second Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed.” The Bible is God’s breath and not only God’s breath but also God’s breathing. Whenever we come to the Bible, we come into God’s breathing. Many of God’s children sense that they come into God’s presence when they come to the Bible, but they do not realize that the Bible is God’s breathing. The reason we sense God’s presence when we come to the Bible is that the Bible is God’s breathing. God’s breathing is divine, holy, life-giving, and full of riches. Even if we have been a Christian for many years, we may never have realized that the Bible is the breathing of our heavenly Father. When we come to the Bible, we should always consider that we are not merely coming to printed words on paper but that we are coming into the breathing of our Father. When we have the breathing of our Father, we have His presence.
Although in the past we may not have realized what the Bible is, we have experienced coming to the Bible and having a sense that is sweet, clear, and bright. Before we come to the Bible, we may be clouded, darkened, or puzzled. However, when we come to the Bible, even before we open it, we often are inwardly cleared up and enlightened. We may be disappointed or hurt, but when we come to the Bible, deep within we are comforted and soothed. Such experiences are not the result of having a natural concept that the Bible is a divine book, God’s word. Rather, God as the Spirit of life always accompanies His word, because His word is His embodiment.
Because electricity is transmitted through a wire, we may say that the wire is the embodiment of electricity. The wire gives the electricity a location and makes it tangible. Today God is embodied in the Bible and is realized as the Spirit. The Bible and the Spirit are the “wires” of the heavenly, divine, and spiritual “electricity.” We have the holy Word without, and we have the Holy Spirit within. These are the two wires that transmit the unseen, invisible, abstract, and mysterious God into our being. The Spirit is the heavenly wire, and the Bible is the earthly wire. Through these two wires God, Christ, and life are transmitted into us.
We need to realize that the Bible not only is inspired by God but also is God’s breathing. Whenever we come to the Bible, we come into God’s breathing, and this breathing is a transmission. God’s divine element and all the riches of His divine attributes are continually transmitted into us as we read the Word. Whenever we come to the Bible, we receive the infusion of the divine element.
Every day we need to spend time in the Bible early in the morning before doing anything else. This may be likened to eating a healthy breakfast in order to be physically healthy. To take in the word of the Lord every morning is a great thing. Regardless of how busy I am, I always pray-read a few verses from the divine book before I do anything else.
After rising up, the first thing we should do is to come to the Lord through the word in the Bible. It does not matter whether we pray first or read first. Eventually, our praying and reading will become one thing. If we pray and read each morning, we will be spiritually healthy. When we receive nourishment from the divine word for our spirit, we will be a happy person. Joy is a great medicine that heals all kinds of diseases. We are made joyful by contacting the Lord through the Bible. Therefore, we will be healthy not only spiritually but also physically.