Document: /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db940608.TXT
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Our Daily Bread                        Wednesday, June 8, 1994

                      Handle with Care

Read: 2 Timothy 2:14-18

           Your Word is very pure; therefore your servant
           loves it. - Psalm 119:140

In an excavation at Jerusalem, archeologist Gabriel Barkay uncovered
a small copper scroll with writing on it from the Bible. This fragment
of Scripture was brittle and tarnished with age. Barkay took it to his
laboratory and worked with unbelievable patience and delicate care to
unroll it without destroying it. Dated around 400 BC, the scroll was a
very important find because it contained the earliest written Hebrew
name for God, Yahweh (or Jehovah). Apparently the scribe who copied it
had broken with the practice of never writing the sacred name. Always
before, because of their reverence for his holiness, Jewish scribes had
felt unworthy to pen that special name.

The Bible is God's holy, inspired, infallible Word, and we must handle
its truths with the same care Barkay gave to his discovery and the same
reverence the copyists gave to God's name. Scripture comes to us from
God's heart.

Therefore, we must guard its message with integrity by "rightly dividing
the Word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15). We must respect its every word. To take
Scripture out of context or twist its meaning to serve our purposes or
justify our own opinions is to dishonor God's Word and His name. Let's
always handle the Word of God with care. - DCE


                    The Bible stands, and it will forever
                     When the world has passed away;
                     By inspiration it has been given--
                    All its precepts I will obey. -- Lillenas

Bible in one year: Proverbs 25-28

Thought for the day:

Open your Bible prayerfully, read it carefully, and obey it joyfully.

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