David Ray
Our society today is engrossed in two things—working and relaxing. We work a minimum of forty hours a week, then come home and look for ways to forget those forty hours. Two of the most popular ways to do this are book reading and movie watching. We’re all looking for a story that will capture our attentions and imaginations and take us away from our own lives for a little while. And this is what books and movies are intended to do. There are books and movies about everything imaginable: about men and about women, adults and children, rich folks and poor, the big city and the country, high society and the slums, good and bad, joy and pain. Some are heartwarming and some are heartbreaking. They cover every event that has ever happened, will ever happen, could ever happen, or could never happen. Some are real-life, and some are completely unrealistic. They’re based on actual events, wild dreams, and fantasies. They elicit excitement, joy, sadness, anger, fear, tears, feelings of heroism, or feelings of depression.
Regardless of the book or movie, there are always people who are willing to experience it first and then tell the rest of us how good or bad it is, if it’s really worth our time and money! I don’t read every book or see every movie, but there is a particular book I’m very excited about recommending. It’s got everything! There’s action, drama, comedy, horror, history, and poetry. It’s got controversy, murder, sex, scandal, love, hate, loyalty, deception, friendship, and revenge. It stars characters of valor, heroism, cowardice, and cruelty. You may have guessed that I’m talking about the Bible! It really does have it all. It leaves nothing out, because it covers real people in real places facing real issues. Some of these folks do the right thing and some do the wrong thing. Some have happy endings and some sad. This Book of books truly has everything Hollywood could ever come up with, and much more.
However, the Bible and Hollywood clearly take opposite approaches to similar topics. Where Hollywood glamorizes sin and wickedness, the Bible exposes it and corrects it. Where Hollywood is condescending towards, and at best patronizes God-fearing men and women, the Bible exalts these people for their actions that result in their souls being saved and God being glorified. Where Hollywood just wants your money and couldn’t care less about your soul, the Bible is God’s message to mankind that He cares very deeply about every soul that has ever lived, anywhere at any time. Books and movies may be able to entertain you for a few hours, but the Bible is able to sustain you for life—this life and the next. Indeed, this Book has everything—“all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3).
Have you read the Bible lately? I highly recommend it!
