FROM THE PASTOR’S HEART
OP-ED BY DR. ROBERT KENNEDY
While in college and graduate school, I worked as a salesman in at least four countries, including here in the United States.
As a salesman, I visited many homes and was always fascinated by Family Bibles opened on the table in the center or on a corner table. I noticed the placement of the Bibles because, as a Christian book salesman, I was quickly drawn to the visible reading materials in the houses I entered.
I would notice from home to home the similarities in the passages displayed on the open pages of the Bibles. For example, Psalms 27, 46, and 96 were the most common; however, Psalm 27 seemed to have been the favorite. I do not know of homes in which Bibles are still being opened with passages these days. Likely, as many would say, those were the days when people were suspicious of every ghost. From my research, I found that in some traditional places, people still believe that a Bible opened to specific scriptural passages could drive away the demons.
While I do not subscribe to the view that an open Bible on a table or in any part of the house has the power to drive away the devil, it is clear that the Bible can break curses when used in the right way. As the Bible itself suggests, the word has the power to:
- Open our understanding to the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ
- Lighten our paths
- Delight our souls
- Give us divine wisdom
- Grace our hearts
- Build our faith
- Renew our spirit
- Create hope in our lives
- Cleanse our hearts
- Set our value system
- Help us make moral decisions
- Transform our lives
Those who appreciate the Bible have stated that it is God’s authoritative guide to life, a manual that gives clear instructions as to how we are to live in this world of corruption. Although I am not asking that the Bible be returned to the public education system because there would not be enough literate Bible believers to instruct with it, I argue that the generation that grew under the Bible in school was more mindful and stable than what we have today.
I would also argue that when the Bible was used as the manual for training children in the home, the values imbibed were more rational than what is seen today. Children understood morality differently than we do today. There was a better understanding of what it meant to be honest and dignified, than we do today. I am not being nostalgic, I speak a reality, as I take note of the transformation.
One author writing to her church members from the time of which I am speaking saw the diminishing use of the Bible and commented:
“Satan is now more earnestly engaged in playing the game of life for souls than at any previous time, and unless we are constantly on our guard, he will establish in our hearts pride, love of self, love of the world, and many other evil traits. He will also use every possible device to unsettle our faith in God and in the truths of his word. If we have not a deep experience in the things of God, if we have not a thorough knowledge of his word, we shall be beguiled to our ruin by the errors and sophistries of the enemy. False doctrines will sap the foundations of many because they have not learned to discern truth from error. Our only safeguard against the wiles of Satan is to study the Scriptures diligently to have an intelligent understanding of the reasons for our faith and to perform every known duty faithfully. The indulgence of one known sin will cause weakness and darkness and subject us to fierce temptation.” (HS 154.6)
I am calling your attention to the point that the Bible has significant power to drive away the curses that the devil is seeking to bring upon us. Still, it will not work if we only open it to some passage on our center, side, night, or other tables in our homes. If we are to find its power, we have to make it personal.
Read the Bible. Study it. Meditate on it. Pray over it. Use it to train your children. Use it to help you plan and straighten out your marital problems. Use it to help you set your financial goals and practices in stewardship. Use it to help you find comfort in times of distress. Use it to drive the demons away when you feel like you are under a demonic attack. Jesus used it when He was under attack by the devil in the wilderness. He reminded the devil that “It is written.” Allow it to saturate your mind so that you can recite it.
Remember what David said in Psalm 119:11: “Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.”
A little fun song we used to sing in our children’s religious classes and family worship is still ringing in my mind:
Read your Bible.
Pray every day (repeat three times).
Read your Bible.
Pray every day.
And you’ll grow, grow, grow (repeat three times).
Read your Bible.
Pray every day.
And you’ll grow, grow, grow.
Don’t read your Bible.
Forget to pray (repeat three times).
Don’t read your Bible.
Forget to pray.
And you’ll shrink, shrink, shrink (repeat three times).
Don’t read your Bible.
Forget to pray.
And you’ll shrink, shrink, shrink.
