My family and I just got back from Israel, some of you were probably able to follow along with my daily posts on Facebook. If you didn’t get a chance & you’d like to, just head over to my personal page and you can read about each day & see pictures! Whenever we go, the Bible comes more and more alive to us each time. I don’t believe that you have to go to Israel or any other land mentioned in the Bible to put your eyes on the places you read about in order to know & love God deeply, not even close…but it’s been our personal experience that you never read the Bible the same again after you go! After travelling the land and visiting the locations you read about, somehow it changes you. It’s as if the black and white words on the pages become living color with all manner of details, and you don’t leave the same.
But, here’s the truth—His Word has a way of doing exactly what Hebrews 4:12 tells us it does: it’s alive, it’s active, it’s sharper than any double-edged sword, it can circumcise the hardness out of hearts, judging the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts. It’s like it holds up the mirror to our true self and shows us what we need to see–and God will change us by it, if we are willing.
I hope everyone who wants to there gets the chance to see where so much of the Bible happened for themselves, but even if you never get to physically go put your feet on that land this side of eternity…Reading God’s Word and experiencing His love and forgiveness and nearness through His Word is the superior thing. I pray that you’ll have a hunger to meet God through His Word like never before. Every moment you spend reading it & being changed by it is worth it and yields reward far beyond what you can imagine!