Last week at our VOM chapel, Brother Merv shared with us. Merv is one of the longest-tenured members of the worldwide VOM family. (You can watch a video interview with him here.) One of the stories he shared was from his time working side-by-side with Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand as Merv helped launch and lead our VOM sister office in Australia.
Merv said that on one particular day he was with Pastor Wurmbrand, and Merv was sharing about his own personal Bible reading.
And he was frustrated.
“Sometimes,” he told Pastor Wurmbrand, “I read the Bible in the morning, and by lunch time I can’t even remember what I read!”
“Keep reading!” Pastor Wurmbrand encouraged Merv. “You are putting into your mind something that God will bring out at the right time. When I was questioned [by police in communist Romania], God would bring to my mind verses that I didn’t even know I knew!”
Paul, in writing to Timothy, warned him that Christians would face persecution (2 Tim. 3:12) and then pointed him down the pathway to prepare for that persecution: God’s Word:
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (3:16-17).
One of the consistent lessons of our persecuted brothers and sisters is the value of the Scriptures. These brothers and sisters LOVE God’s Word. Sometimes they work and pray for years to have a copy of the Bible. They take great risks to own, study and spread its precious truths. They work to memorize its passages, knowing that a physical Bible can be confiscated or burned, but the words hidden in our hearts cannot be removed.
I appreciate Merv’s story. Sometimes I, too, struggle as I attempt to consistently read my Bible. My mind wanders, my attention is short, and it seems at times the words go in through my eyes and then quickly out of my mind and memory. But as I continue in this discipline, there are days the words seem to jump off the page, as if they were written just for me on that particular day. And I’m reminded again of the power of God’s Word and the importance of feeding it to our hearts and minds.
Keep reading!
Your Turn: Do you ever struggle to be consistent in your personal Bible reading and study? What keeps you motivated to keep reading? Continue the discussion in the comments to this post.
Todd Nettleton has served the persecuted church and VOM 15 years. He has been interviewed more than 1900 times by various media outlets. He's the author of Restricted Nations: North Korea, and served on the writing team for FOXE, Extreme Devotion, Hearts of Fire and other VOM books.
Image credit: thedisciplers.com.
