In his book “The Booth” written by Angus Buchan, he makes reference to a chapter headed up “The Power of the Word, and he says. ”If Jesus Himself used the Word (Bible) when He was tempted in the desert, then how much more should you and I do so?” Mark 13:31 (NIV) says this about the Bible “Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”

Why is it then that we seem so ready to accept the information we see on our TV sets, read in our newspapers, listen to what we hear on the radio, (those of us who still have them) , and digest what appears on our virtual media “blogs” and messaging (for our modern generations) and be prepared in some instances even to run around following these words without giving too much thought about them and any truth that they may or may not contain: instead of spending more time reading God’s word and following His instructions to us?

When we read the Bible, the Holy Spirit gives us the direction, the wisdom and knowledge, we need for our lives, in order to live in harmony with God and our fellow man. Angus shares one of his personal moments with the Lord when reading his Bible and praying. He received this understanding to a passage he had been reading. This is his story.
“I thank God for many things; for being alive, for my beautiful family, for the Christian work He called me to do. So many amazing doors had opened for me to preach the gospel, and we had booked trips to India, Newfoundland and other places that were new to me. I drained the last few drops of tea and opened my Bible and continued to read from where I had left off the previous day. What I read shocked me to the core. The Lord spoke almost audibly to me, ”Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lamp stand from its place” (Rev 2:4-5 NIV). Angus explains how these words spoke to him in the following manner: Jesus was basically saying to me, “Go home and get back to your first love, spending time with Me, like you did when you were a new Christian” How true. “We can often get so busy doing the work of the Lord (and our own), that we neglect the Lord of work, and that is what He was saying to me very clearly”.

Once home Angus cancelled all his engagement for the year ahead in obedience to the word he received, Being a man in such great demand to share his gift of evangelism all over the world, this must have been a very difficult decision for him to make, but he shares later in his book the rewards he reaped from doing this in obedience to his Lord’s Word.
Many think that 2022 will not be any easier than what we experienced in 2021 and to get through 2022 and to continue to endevour to be a witness for Christ in this confused and fearful world around us, perhaps we can consider Angus’s last few sentences, in this book. “A person needs to be steady, reliable and steadfast, just like a corner post. The corner post is a solid part of the fence – if there is no corner post, the fence will not stand up straight. And how we need corner posts in the kingdom of God today”

God’s word is our “Corner post” God relied upon many of the Old Testament Patriarchs and in the New Testament, twelve disciples and others in whom He filled with His Holy Spirit, and chose to follow Him. They proved to be corner posts for the growing of His Kingdom. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away”? Perhaps we need to spend more time in God’s word to hear what He wants to share with us during 2022. Maybe Angus’s idea of having a “Booth” in which we can spend a quite time every day with the Lord praying and reading our Bibles, is a great way of moving forward?