Books that Have Shaped Me: the Bible

God wrote a book. Technically, a book of books- a small library.

The Apostle Paul wrote to his younger protege, Timothy, that “all scripture is breathed out by God…” (2 Tim. 3:16 [ESV]). The 66 book protestant Bible is the God-breathed book.

God did not breathe out a television series or a YouTube video- He wrote a book. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isa. 55:10-11)

I want to read God’s Word and allow it to have its effect in me.

For the past 23 years of being a Christian, I have sought to live out this aspiration. I have read the Bible more than any other book, more than any other author, and more than any other influence in my life. As a result, the Bible has shaped me into who I am today.

A few months after I was saved, God disciplined me in a severe way causing me to spend 3 nights in jail as a direct result of what had been an ongoing sin in my life. While I was in jail for those 3 days and 3 nights (like Jonah?), I read the little Bible they gave me. Eventually, I read Hebrews 12, and I learned that “the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” (Heb. 12:6). God used His Word to show me the lesson He was teaching me.

In Marine Corps Officer Candidate School, I read the Bible at night, after the lights were out. All we were allowed in that moment for light was a red lens flashlight. Believe it or not, you can’t read red letters on a page in the dark with a red lens flashlight. Only having a red letter Bible at the time, I had to venture out of the accounts and teachings of Jesus into other parts of the Bible. In that time, God gave me a love for the Old Testament and the letters of the Apostle Paul.

On my first deployment, I rarely read the Bible. This season quickly became a spiritually dead time for me. I started to fall back into former sins, temptation surrounded me, and I felt myself sliding backwards in the Christian life in more ways than I could see at the time. My Christian witness was greatly hindered. I learned that God’s Word is the Word of Life and that I need it to spiritually live.

On my third deployment, (seven years later) I read the Bible almost daily and also taught it to others. In a very difficult time and place, God was growing me and shaping me in powerful ways as I read His Word each day overlooking the Helmand River in Afghanistan. I even had the privilege of leading one of my fellow Marines to the Lord on that deployment.

When I was ordained as a pastor, I had yet to take even one bible college or seminary class. As I wrote out my personal beliefs and then was grilled with questions by a dozen pastors in an ordination council, I was able to go to the Word for the answers. It was all I had, and yet it was all I needed.

Over the past 22 years, nothing has shaped me more than regularly and consistently reading the Bible for myself.

I invite you to join me in this endeavor and allow God to transform you “by the renewal of your mind” (Rom. 12:2). If you want to grow, read the Bible for yourself. Here are a few articles to get started:

How Do I Have a ‘Quiet Time’ Anyway?

Bible Reading Plans

Bible Reading: Even More Important for the Military?

I love you guys,

Brian O’Day

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