The bible serves at least three major functions for the individual Christian. First it is a moral dictionary that tells us what is right and what is wrong. Unfortunately American society has quit accepting biblical moral definitions as the standard. Historically Americans who were not Christian by experience but were Christian by tradition showed it by accepting the bible as the moral dictionary. We no longer do that.
Second, the bible serves as a compass. I'm never afraid to venture out into strange territory so long as I have an understanding of the biblical principles for it serves as a compass. When I get lost I review these principles to find the way and inevitably I hear that small voice behind me saying, "this is the way, walk ye in it." I used to wonder why the voice came from behind me, but then as I experienced getting lost I realized that I was lost because I had quit following God but He had not quit following me. When I followed Him the voice came from before me. As I went in my own direction, then the voice came from behind me. His love kept him speaking——in a small voice, because He knew that if I wanted to hear He didn't have to yell at me and if I didn't want to hear no amount of yelling would get my attention. When a young man proposes to the woman he loves he doesn't need to talk real loud when "popping the question"--- she will be able to hear even a whisper for she will be listening for it.
Finally, the bible is also food for our hungry heart. Mary Alice, my wife of nearly 66 years, is an expert at understanding the cry of babies. On a plane she'll hear a baby cry and she'll say, "The baby is wet," when she can't even feel the baby. Or she'll say, "The baby is mad," or quite often she'll say, "The baby is hungry." She understands the sound of hunger. I have lived with "lost Christians" long enough to know the sound of their hungry heart. There is a particular type of meanness and rebellion which only comes to those whose hearts have been educated but who have wandered away. I was director of a corporation in which we had a bright young man who had been very active in youth revivals but when he got into business he was anxious to get rich. He ignored the church or anything that cost him any time, to spend it getting rich. He got rich, but one day I ran into him in a hotel lobby and suggested we have a cup of coffee. As we talked I realized he was hollow on the inside. I felt that I could have thumped him and he would have sounded like a drum. During one of the lulls in the conversation I said, "Do you remember the old verse which says, "In the morning I long for the night, and in the night I long for the morning." Then I told him I had met a lot of people in their anxiety like that. He got very quiet and then he said , "Fred, that's me." He has come back with great joy, but he came back because he had first had an educated heart that was able to hear the call of God again. The ones I feel sorry for are those who have educated minds but whose hearts have never been educated to hear the voice of God saying, "Come home."
