too many bibles?

I have a New Testament Bible in my Jeep, and another full-size NIV Full Bible alongside it. There are five Bibles next to, on, and around my bed: one NLT Study Bible, an NLT Student Bible, an NIV New Testament, and two KJV Bibles. On my bedside table is The Message: The Gospel of John and a NCV mini-Bible. On my desk is KJV Bible. On my dresser is one NIV New Testament. on my bookcase are six more Bible collected over several years, and I have more Bibles downstairs in the guest room. If you total my Bibles, I have seventeen in my room, about three or four more throughout the house.

Do I tell you this to brag? Does me having a lot of Bibles make me holier-than-thou? No. I don't do it to brag, and Bibles don't get you anywhere. I used to be under the deceptive mask of belief that if I had a lot of Bibles, then I'd be on the upper rung at the Kingdom of Heaven. When I stood at the pearly gates, I'd tell Peter, "Hey, man, let me through. I bought a lot of Bibles and I read them. I'm good, eh?" Well, it isn't reading a Bible that makes you righteous, and it's not owning Bibles that make you right in God's sight. My mentality was wrong. Some of the most devoted Christians in the world have never touched nor read a Bible. I had all these Bibles, and thought my faith was so strong--my wallet was strong, my faith was not.

About a year ago, I realized that owning Bible's wasn't the answer. The answer is Jesus' blood. Only then does the Bible hold meaning. Only then does its words really impact me. And it isn't merely reading the Bible that helps strengthen our faith. Just as ringing off uniformed, patterned, and subconscious prayers isn't really prayer at all, reading the Bible and hearing its words are not enough--we must LISTEN and OBEY. I've been listening--I've been jumping into the Scripture, especially the Gospel of John, and its words are powerful. I have been LISTENING...

But have I been obeying?

I take a step back, look at my life--and see all the corruption, the problems, the uncontrolled sin. I revel in the waste of my life. I am saved by Jesus' blood and Jesus' blood alone--my entrance into heaven is guaranteed--but I still struggle with a lot of stuff. Anger, pride, lust. Rampant. Disgusting. I hate them all. I hate the sin, yet I give in, time after time again and again. It is pulling me away from God--stem the tide! Stem the tide! Surrender all to God--again. Where has the "high" of following God gone? It is slowly being washed away, replaced by the repugnant, awful sin stenching my life. I lie in bed at night, heart riddled with guilt and shame. It is time to wash that guilt and shame away. Yes! It is washed away by the blood of Jesus! His own precious, spilt blood has flowed through my own heart, and the guilt and shame has evaporated. I am white as snow. But the temptation is still there; the problems still exist. I have been forgiven for my sins--but the temptation isn't gone. I take Jesus' hand; temptation is waiting to pounce as I wade through the long grass. Any minute now... Will I be able to handle it? Will I stand tall, sheltered in God's wings? Or will I dive out from cover and jump into the lake of sin, only to be strangled by the vicious, lurking seaweed hidden behind the glossamer surface?

Prayer. Need it. Reliance on God. Need it. Ask for strength. Need it. Know what else I need? To READ, to LISTEN, to OBEY. To FOLLOW, to WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF JESUS! It isn't Bibles that save you. It isn't prayer, it isn't reading the Word, it isn't going to church or singing hymnals. It isn't knowing about God. What saves you? The blood of Jesus. He died for a reason. "I am thirsty." He died for sinners. "Father, forgive them, for they don't understand what they are doing." He died for you and me. "It is finished." Salvation comes in one name--Jesus Christ: Messiah. We need to be devoted to God; we should be amazed at his power and love, for he died; the CREATOR DIED FOR THE CREATION; we need to repent of our sins and follow Jesus with everything we have. As Jesus said so well, "Pick up your cross daily, and follow Me... He who finds life will lose it, but he who loses his life for My sake will find real life."

Salvation isn't found in Bibles.
Or church.
Or prayer.
Or in any other outward works.

Salvation is found in choosing to follow Jesus and abiding in a loving relationship with him.
It is the blood of Jesus that saves us.