Read and Become Prosperous In Life
- Category: Gospel Truth
- Date 07-08-2016
- 291 views
“Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light,” says Vera Nazarian, an award-winning artist and publisher of Norilana Books.
A local television station in Uganda recently aired a report featuring a woman, above sixty years of age, who enrolled in primary school in 2016. She said she was a devout Catholic but spiritually discontented because she could not read the Holy Bible as she was not educated. To solve her problem, she decided to go to school. The old woman was right because ‘knowledge is power’, and there is perhaps no greater source of knowledge than reading. Jesus Christ taught that even the Divine Truths can be easily and fully understood through reading the Bible. He affirmed, “You search the Scriptures thinking that, in them, you will find life; yet Scripture bears witness to me” (John 5:39). In other words, to read the Bible is to have a face-to-face encounter with God.
When Ezekiel was called to be a Prophet, he was given the written Scripture to consume, “Son of man, eat what is given to you. Eat this scroll and then go; speak to the people of Israel” (Ezekiel 3:1). In ancient times, scrolls were used instead of books. On his part, Ezekiel was forced to eat the scroll probably because he was unable to read; but the key issue is that the prophet was to base his teaching on the written word. God’s messenger must be inwardly stuffed with the Scripture in order to be able to explain it to others. To read is to swallow the written messages as a way of self-empowerment. A reader is like a hunter; he gathers information from written texts to expand his own scope of knowledge.
I can imagine that God wanted to promote a culture of reading when He decided to write the Ten Commandments. Today, we still read the Ten Commandments as Moses received them: "The LORD spoke these words to all of you assembled there at the foot of the mountain. He spoke with a loud voice from the heart of the fire, surrounded by clouds and deep darkness. This was all he said at that time, and he wrote his words on two stone tablets and gave them to me (Deuteronomy 5:22).
The holy laws, as given to Moses, was possibly the first written constitution in history, published by God Himself. A nation has to have a common people, a common land, and a common law or constitution. God had already given the Israelites a common people when he called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans. They were headed to their common land, Canaan. What they needed to bind them together was a constitution, a written law (Exodus 20 – 24). God wrote the Ten Commandments so they could be maintained and read without the risk of alteration. They were written for an everlasting purpose: “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide, we might have hope” (Romans 15:4).
Jesus Christ was a keen reader of the Scriptures. During his retreat in the wilderness, he was challenged by the devil which also quoted Scripture saying, “If you are a son of God, throw yourself down for it is written, ‘God has ordered his angels…. Their hands will hold you….’” The devil understood the power of basing an argument on what is written. Quoting more and more Scriptures, Jesus declared, "For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only” (Matthew 4:10). The devil’s temptations came to naught because the Lord was hugely versed with the Scriptures.
Even then, the people in the community where Jesus was born belittled him at the beginning of his public ministry. They saw him as one of the villagers in the neighbourhood, unworthy of attention and respect. Again, Jesus overcame their contempt by reading the Scripture (Isaiah 61:1) and they listened to him in total amazement: “Then, he rolled up the scroll … sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him” (Luke 4:20).
St Peter’s thorough reading of the Scripture helped him to preach effectively. At Pentecost, many people heard the apostles, speaking in tongues after the Holy Spirit came upon them. Some people accused the apostles of drinking too much wine, “These people are drunk,” they said (Acts 2: 13). Peter confronted the doubters by reading out the Scripture, starting with the book of Prophet Joel, “… I will pour out my Holy Spirit… (Joel 2:28-32). He also referenced David’s writings, “I saw the Lord before me at all times…” (Psalms 16:8-11) and, “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand side until I make your enemies a stool for my feet” (Psalms 101.1). By the end of the Sermon, almost everyone believed: “So those who accepted his word were baptised; some three thousand persons were added to their community that day” (Acts 2:37-41).
There is power in reading but one of the most serious problems of Africans is a poor reading culture. A popular article, allegedly written by a Caucasian, states: “The best way to hide something from Black people is to put it in a book…. They have gained the opportunity to read any book… yet they refuse to read. There are numerous books readily available… but few read consistently, if at all”. The article teems with prejudice but we have not helped the matters. Many of our graduates stop reading books on the day they step out of the college or university after completing their studies.
Venansio Ahabwe is a lay Christian from the Archdiocese of Mbarara
By Venansio Ahabwe
Source: Gospel Truth, Leadership Magazine