Daily Bread (What Price For A Book?)

[shortlady]

What Price For A Book?

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. —John 6:68

About this cover
A missionary who worked with Underground Evangelism told a story about a believer in Russia before the collapse of communism. Learning that a friend had acquired a Bible, he asked to borrow it. His friend, however, read the precious Book every evening until 10 p.m. So each night for 8 months, from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., that dedicated believer laboriously copied his friend’s Bible. Eventually, when some fellow Christians visited him with Bibles, he exchanged his handwritten labor of love for several copies.

Imagine not having access to a copy of the Bible. What price would you pay to get one? Let’s take this question to a deeper level.

When Jesus’ teachings began to “offend” those who were following Him, many chose to leave (John 6:60-66). So He asked His disciples, “Do you also want to go away?” (v.67). Peter replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (v.68). Peter knew that Jesus was the living Word—God revealed in the flesh. He was willing to forsake everything in this life to pursue the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Do we have Peter’s commitment? Do we have the devotion of that Russian believer? What price would we pay for the Book? For our Lord? —Vernon C Grounds

Thy Word is a lamp to my feet,
A light to my path alway,
To guide and to save me from sin,
And show me the heavenly way. —Sellers
© Renewal 1936, Broadman Press

One measure of our love for God is our love for the written Word and our love for the Living Word.

 

[stephen]

Do we have Peter’s commitment? Do we have the devotion of that Russian believer? What price would we pay for the Book? For our Lord?

Yesterday evening we had a party (4 people) from China visiting the Church. They were in our town because Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission was born, and spent his early years here. A good part of the day was spent looking around the birthplace of this great man of God. Hudson Taylor formed the China inland Mission 151 years ago this year.

The Chinese lady who spoke at our evening service, was 60 years old, and had spent many of the years of her life in prison for her faith. The stories she told were all about Jesus, and His power to save and deliver.

I make this post because at one point she was telling of an occasion when the pages were being torn out of the bible and given to the people to read. She said that they now have 80 million Christians in China.

All these, the result of a few people who years back went to China to preach the gospel.

 

[SpiritLedEd]

Peter's faith at the time of the incident you cite from John 6 was strong but misguided.[At that time, Peter believed that Jesus was going to be a "kick butt" messiah who would throw the Romans out and restore the Kingdom of Israel.
On the night of the Last Supper, Peter finally realized that this earthly kingdom thing might not be what Jesus had in mind and his faith developed some very serious cracks, even to the point where he denied three times that he knew Jesus. Peter was on the brink of calling it quits.
What kept Peter's faith from being completely destroyed? Apparently, there came a moment when Jesus was being led through the courtyard of the high priest. "The Lord turned and looked at Peter"(Lk 22:61) and Peter broke. The look Jesus gave him was not a look of condemnation ("Wow, Pete, you really screwed up this time!"). It was a look of love; the kind of intense, penetrating love that only He gives.
Only then, when Peter came to the end of himself, did he turn the corner and move from self-reliance to full reliance on God and become the ROCK that Jesus had predicted he would be.
SLE