SEARCHLIGHT
How important is the Holy Bible? To what extent do you value it?
SCRIPTURE
“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this book of the law always on your lips; Meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” Joshua 1:7-8 NIV
SPOTLIGHT
I met the man at a church in Athens, Greece, who had been confined to a dungeon for one year of his life. What an impact he made on me. His name is Arash, which is a common name, but in Persian, it may possibly mean truthfulness, or bright. Arash is both. He enthusiastically serves in the church and you can always count on him greeting you with a big smile.
Arash’s home country is Iran. He fled from there as a refugee and came to Greece. Neither was he a Muslim or a Christian. Truth be told, he was not interested in “religion.” Then somebody invited him to church. And there, believers began loving him as he had never experienced. He was greatly impacted. Over a period of time, he became a believer and was baptized in water giving evidence of his new life found in Jesus Christ.
Arash was only a “baby” Christian when things began to get tough, rather than easier. Who said following Jesus is easy? Jesus did not even imply those thoughts when He told people they must forsake all and take up their cross to follow Him. Because Arash was a refugee, he had been living in Greece without legal documents. When this was discovered, he was arrested and put in jail. Twelve months later, he was released and given legal papers.
What he described to me was not a jail, but a dungeon. This young man was confined to a small room, with three other men below ground. For one year, he never saw sunlight. In these restricted quarters, he was fed lentils, macaroni, and beans. Arash told me that it was so dark that his tanned Iranian skin turned white. What I knew about dungeons was information based on Medieval times. Arash was a 21st-century DUNGEON MAN. Then Arash shocked me! In fact, I had to ask him to repeat what he told me. Arash said that before going to jail he had become a believer, but it was in the dungeon that he really became a deep-rooted, well-grounded believer. In the first year, he read the Bible 5 times from Genesis to Revelation. Just like Joshua 1:7,8 states in the above Scripture section, Arash did not become emotionally weak, but became strong and courageous as he read the Bible, spoke it, meditated on it, and obeyed it. God blessed him with success.
The Dungeon Man was just like the Berean Christians in Acts 17:11. He read, studied, prayed, and then read, studied, and prayed. In the deep, dark dungeon, God grew a baby believer into a strong Christian. Rather than blaming God for this trial, Arash turned it into his testimony. He exemplifies 2 Timothy 2:15, which states, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” Like James 1:2-4 says, my friend considered the dungeon a blessing rather than a curse because it developed in him perseverance which greatly matured and completed him. WOW!!!
SOMETHING TO DO
#1. Take time to read how King Josiah valued God’s Word in 2 Chronicles 34.
#2. Read the Bible every day and experience Psalm 1:1-3.
#3. Sometimes read it out loud. This will add a dynamic to your devotional time.
#4. Pick a verse from your reading to think about during the day. This is meditation.
#5. Then pray about the verse. Say the verse in your prayer.
#6. Everything you read in God’s Word is for your benefit. Obey the instruction from it.
SOUL TIME PRAYER
Thank You Heavenly Father for people like Arash, who motivate me to grow in my faith. I will value Your Word, Oh God, like never before. I will treasure it by reading it, meditating on it and obeying it. Teach me Your ways, and Your wisdom, so that I might be successful. AMEN!