Jesus’s Library

Bible Reading: John 20:31; 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Friday was Maribel’s favorite day of the week! Because on Fridays after school, Maribel and her mom went to the library to look for books. And today was no exception.

As the library doors swooshed open, Maribel breathed in the familiar scent of book pages. She headed over to her favorite section—fiction—and began to take in each of the colorful spines lined along the shelves.

Her mom didn’t have a favorite section though. She would go up and down the different aisles, always ending her search with a pile of books about lots of different subjects.

“Mom,” asked Maribel as they drove home, “how do they keep track of all the books at the library?”

“They use something called the Dewey Decimal system,” Mom said. “There are numbered sections for different subjects and types of books. They have sections for books about history, science, art, travel—anything anyone would want to read about, really.”

“Wow!” said Maribel. “That’s a lot of different types of books.”

“Yes,” said Mom. “Did you know that there’s a very special type of book that includes a whole library?”

“No way!” said Maribel. “What book is that?”

“It’s the Bible,” said Mom. “It’s made up of many different types of books written by lots of different people who were empowered by the Holy Spirit. The Bible includes history, law, poetry, prophecy, songs, letters, and more!”

“That’s so cool!” said Maribel. “How did people know what books to put in the Bible?”

“God is so creative,” Mom said. “He guided the people who wrote the books of the Bible in a very special way called ‘inspiration.’ Then He guided other people in helping choose which books belonged in the Bible, His library. That’s how we can know the Bible is true. God wrote it, using human people who trusted in Him and listened to Him. And the people who chose the books in the Bible knew the story of Jesus and listened to the Holy Spirit to figure out which books proclaimed that story well.”

“So, if the Bible is a library, then Jesus is the librarian?” asked Maribel.

“Yes,” said Mom. “And we can trust Him to tell us His story.”

-Kandi Zeller

How About You?

Did you know the Bible has different genres—books on different subjects with different styles of writing? The amazing thing about the Bible is that even though there are lots of different books, genres, and writers, it all tells the same story: Jesus died and rose again to beat sin and death! What questions do you have about the Bible? Talk with your parents, pastor, or another Christian adult about them today.

Today’s Key Verse:
Acts 10:43 He [Jesus] is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name. (NLT)

Today’s Key Thought:

The Bible is a library