John 20:30-31
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
I cannot live without books. That was from a letter from Thomas Jefferson to John Adams after Jefferson sold his books to the government to start the library of congress. As a Bibliophile, I sympathize with Jefferson. I too have a hard time imagining life without my books. However, if I were to write a letter, I would hope to say these words. I cannot live without THE book. The Apostle John wrote his gospel to tell his readers that Jesus was and is God, the Messiah, who died to save us from our sins. That is what these verses tell us. Everything John wrote was to present to us a way out of the problem that no self help book could ever tackle; our sin.
The Bible is the bestselling book in the world. Increasingly though, it is becoming the least read book in the world. The bestseller lists tell us what we value; thrilling fiction, sensational biographies, and angry polemics. These are things that become less important when the Bible takes on greater importance. No story in any novel can compete with the story of the God-man who sacrificed himself for us. No biography can touch John’s for excitement. No system of thought or government can approach the societal benefit of verse 31, that Jesus Christ is the answer to racism, poverty, and war. Once you get away from the bestseller list and into the Bestseller itself, you will find that…
I cannot live without Jesus!
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church