Never Be Shaken
PSALM 112:6 (NIV)
The righteous will never be shaken.
Psalm 112 was this week’s Bible study in a family-centred podcast I listen to in my first language, Portuguese. It set out guidelines to encourage parents to pray for their children specifically following through this Psalm.
Because this podcast was in Portuguese, I was taken to another level of comprehension, despite my fluency in English. It took me back to my twenties when, eager to learn a second language, I attended the English services at an International Mission with a base in my hometown, Cuiaba, central west Brazil. The services were run every week by Wycliffe Bible translators. (I recommend you google this amazing organisation.) People, many with families, left the comfort of their homes to obey a call of God to translate the Bible into languages without manuscripts and to teach indigenous groups to read and write in their own language.
As now I can so easily read the Bible in various languages and different translations, I remember with gratitude these missionaries who had such an impact on my life. They totally surrendered themselves to God so that people from all languages, countries and tribes might access the Bible.
The Bible is alive and life-giving. The Bible is available in most but not all areas of the world, and, as we are privileged to read and respond to the message of eternal life within it, let us remember those who are yet to read the Bible in their own language. Let us raise our prayers for more to be called to serve among the unreached so that the Bible will reach every heart with Jesus' good news of forgiveness and salvation.
Prayer - Dear God, thank you for your Living Word, for the privilege of studying the Bible and following your path. Thank you for the promise of eternal security you give; as your word says, ‘the righteous will never be shaken’. Please send out your Word to reach to the ends of the earth. May many more of your disciples answer your call to work in Bible translation. For your Kingdom's sake.