I don’t read manuals that come with certain products. When I buy something, I always try to figure out how to operate it, or how to assemble things by myself. But often, I come to the point when I don’t know what’s next, what part now, and where does this go. I got a new digital camera not too long ago, and I thought that I knew how to operate it. But I couldn’t figure out how to activate a certain function, and so I had to admit my limitations and check the manual. The Bible -- the Word of God -- is like that manual that helps us to live well, and not only helps but shows us the best way of living, so we don’t make too many mistakes. We can try to live our lives without the Word of God, we can live without reading that ‘manual’. But then sooner or later, we won’t know where to go and what is next. Or we can read the Bible, the Word of God, but still do things our own way. Today, Jesus tells us that always the best way to make our lives happy and fulfilled is to implement that ‘manual’ into our lives. “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” Let us not only read it, not only listen to it, but also to act on the Word of God.
