It’s a sizeable book. There are 1189 chapters, some 31,000 verses, more than ¾ million words. Even when printed in small type, on thin paper, it’s still a large volume. But, remember, it is the word of God himself! It’s worthy of our attention. You can read it through in a year, if you spend just 15 minutes a day. And yet, most prefer TV to the Bible. Most prefer the newspaper to the Bible. Most prefer entertainment, sports, work, anything but the Bible!

Consider what the scriptures claim, as far as their own inspiration and authority. Isaiah begins his long prophetic book saying, "Hear O heavens! Listen O earth! For the LORD has spoken . . ." (Isaiah 1:2) Ezekiel begins his book, "This is what the Sovereign LORD says . . ." (Ezekiel 3:11) He says this 60 times. Jeremiah repeats 100 times what he says in 1:4, "Then the word of the LORD came to me . . ." He explains in 1:9, "Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘Now I have put my words in your mouth.’" We find this, in so many words, 3800 times in the Old Testament alone.

In Hosea 4:6 we find God’s statement about the need for his priests and for his people to know and follow his word, "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests. Because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children." Proverbs 28:9 warns us, "If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable!" King David, in Psalm 138:2, acknowledges the importance of God’s word, "I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word!"

You may remember Jesus fasted for 40 days after his baptism. Satan tempted him to satisfy his physical hunger by turning nearby stones into bread. Jesus responded by quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3, " . . . man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." In doing this, Jesus not only gave validity to the Old Testament scriptures, he also emphasized the importance of every word of God. Jesus constantly affirmed the inspiration and authority of scripture. This was evident in his familiarity with the scriptures when he was but 12 years of age, discussing and debating with the scholars in the temple.

Jesus accepted and affirmed the people and events of the Old Testament as historical. He projected his own words as scripture to be believed and obeyed. He held people accountable to what was written in the scriptures. He used scripture to resist temptation, and to answer his critics. Jesus actually quoted from 24 different Old Testament books. The fact that Jesus trusted and relied on the scriptures as inspired and authoritative, is perhaps our best reason to do so as well.

The Apostle Paul states the inspiration and the value of the scriptures in II Timothy 3:16, "All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness." By this, he’s saying the scriptures have originated with God himself. They are not the work of men, or of some prophet, or even an angel. They have originated with God himself. The Apostle Peter said basically the same thing in II Peter 1:20,21, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the holy spirit."

The Bible is the sole authority for Christian truth and conduct. It’s the only infallible rule of faith and practice. It’s the final authority for the questions and answers of life. Any other proposed medium, be it the conscience, feelings, one’s personal interpretation, experience, men’s teachings, and even the church, is subordinate to, and subject to, the written word of God.