Although the Bible remains the number one bestseller in books each year, buying a Bible, or any other book for that matter, is not the same as reading it.

It’s the books we actually read and understand and internalize that shape who we are and forecast who we will become.

Universal truth applies to all people in every context and throughout all generations. But where do people even begin to look for truth?

In books.

Looking for Truth in all the right places

The Bible admits through words written by King Solomon nearly three thousand years ago:  Of making many books there is no end.

There are books that feed hungry souls. There are books that fuel unhealthy appetites. There are books that are as disposable as the daily newspaper.

Today, there are books that sell. There are books that last. A book that does both becomes a classic.

Indispensable among books in any language is the Bible. The Bible used to form the cornerstone of education. Educated persons shared in common a literary heritage with tracks of written words crisscrossing the Bible throughout centuries of recorded history.

A translation of the Bible in any language is a gift of inestimable value. Ask Abraham Lincoln.

Or I can tell you how some Russian people responded when a group I was with in 1993 handed out Bibles to those who had sat in darkness for 70 years. They cried.

All truth is God’s truth.

Frank Gabelein served as headmaster for 42 years at a Christian college prep school. He believed that “because all truth is God’s truth, it should make no difference whether it is natural or revealed truth, as long as learning relates to life.”

Gabelein believed that the doctrine of common grace asserts that God gives his gifts among all kinds of men, believers as well as unbelievers.

“There is an excitement about the humanities that can be very moving . . . the humane visions of greatness in literature and art and music can bring us into encounters with genius . . . Genius comes through common grace. As such, it is a miracle of divine sovereignty. In giving genius to Plato, or Shakespeare; a Leonardo or a Monet; Mozart or Tchaikovsky, or turn again to literature, a Jane Austen or a Hemingway––in doing this, God acted sovereignly [sic] and the results of his action are to be accepted thankfully.”

Can Readers be saved?

People are hungry for truth. Not your truth. Not my truth.

The truth.

People confuse truth with personal experience.

You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Jesus said that.

Go read a good book. For those who seek the truth, there’s truth to be found, tasted, and treasured.

The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd. And further, my son, be admonished by these. Ecclesiastes 12:11–12