Why the Bible makes your life more fun

Friday night live separate dance lesson vbw Announce and remind about music practice led by Tom

Read Psalm 19:9–10 “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”

Intro

Fun.

Something

everyone likes.

If you like fun raise your hand.

Right who doesn’t like fun?

According to research

81% of people

wish they had more fun

every day.

There’s another interesting stat.

What do you think is at the top of the list of having fun for people?

The answer said time with friends and family

at 78%.

But I want to talk about another thing

that is rarely ever

thought about as fun.

The Bible.

Usually when people think

of the Bible

fun

doesn’t come to mind!

You see most people

see the Bible

as boring!

And what happens

when you think

the Bible is boring?

You don’t read it!

And life becomes mid.

It starts to feel so repetitive.

Ironically

avoiding

the Bible

makes life more boring!

What you think

is boring

will actually

make life more dull

if you don’t read it!

That’s why

the title

for today’s message is

Why the Bible makes your life more fun.

Because what should have been

on top of the list of fun

more than

spending time with family and friends

is being in God’s Word.

I want you

to be more engaged with your Bible

to love your Bible.

And for that to happen

you need to change

how you see your bible.

1. It brings energy back into your life (v.7-8a)

Let’s look at v.7, ‘The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;’

Here’s another translation

Psalm 19:7 (ESV)

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;

Perfect is incredibly rare in this world.

Diamonds are rated

based on their imperfections.

The highest rating

is called FL

standing for flawless.

They don’t have a single blemish

or scratch

either internally

or externally.

Flawless diamonds are so rare

only .001% of diamonds

are flawless.

And they are worth millions (diamond pic)

upon millions of dollars.

Years ago

one was sold for almost $30 million.

There are jewelers

people who work with diamonds

who have never even seen

a flawless diamond in their lifetime.

And students

the Bible

is even more perfect

than a flawless diamond.

More rare.

There’s only 1

Bible in the world.

Not a single error

not a single mistake

exists in the Bible.

Such perfection

revives the soul.

I remember

eating at a restaurant

called Della J’s

in North Virginia

with my wife. Soul food

The food was so good. (della j food)

I remember Maybelle

ate the cornbread

and she almost cried

of how good it is.

It was the perfect meal.

So perfect

that it was life changing.

Life felt fresh and new again.

Our souls were revived.

There’s nothing

that brings energy back into your life

more

than the perfect meal right?

Especially when you’re so tired and hungry!

What is your perfect meal to bring energy back into your life?

I want you to remember

that perfect meal

and remember that the Bible

is even better than that.

More perfect than that.

Look at the Bible

like a perfect diamond

that you just want to stare

at all day.

Or the perfect meal

that brings back excitement

in your life.

So that you come to it.

and enjoy it.

That you come to the Bible

to bring back energy into your life.

But the Bible is not only perfect

it’s also sure

‘the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;’

Testimony means

God’s own declaration.

David

is saying that God’s very own words

that come out of His ow mouth

are sure

meaning certain.

There are zero doubts

as to whether

His Word

is true

or not.

And when you have certain statements

you have truth,

you make the simple

into the wise.

People who are simple

who lack wisdom

and understanding

are people

whose lives become dry.

When you make poor decisions

you decide

to say something stupid

on Snapchat

for example.

That foolish decision

drains you.

It will drain

the life

out of you.

But the Bible

makes you wise.

So that you don’t

make foolish choices in life

that drain

all the energy in your life

but instead

make wise decisions

that give energy

to your life.

When you choose

to study hard

for a test

instead of slacking off

you feel good

when you get a good grade right?

You feel energized

when you feel success.

When the Bible

makes you wise

it brings back energy into your life.

But there is another

truth about the Bible.

v.8, ‘the statues of the LORD are right’.

Similar to perfect

the Bible is never wrong.

As you have grown up

you will notice

that the people

you looked up to

literally

grown adults:

Teachers

your own parents

are not always right.

They are wrong at times.

Even the people

you really are inspired by

make mistakes.

And when people make mistakes

when they are wrong

you feel disappointed.

Your mom or dad

says we’re going out

to get ice cream

but then something comes up

at work

and they can’t take you anymore.

That’s disappointing.

But the Bible

is never wrong.

It’s always right.

And just like how when someone is wrong

it can hurt or disappoint

others

when one is right

when a person

pulls through

for you

just like they said

it brings joy.

That’s why David writes, ‘rejoicing the heart’.

It fills

your heart

with joy.

Think of things

that fill you with joy.

From things

that only reach the surface.

Such as playing sports

playing games.

Fun things.

The Bible

reaches the surface of your heart

too.

The Bible is fun.

When you learn

from something

that is always right.

It can’t help

but interest you

intrigue you.

Draw you in.

And that’s the Bible.

But fun is temporary.

It’s fleeting

it doesn’t last

Thankfully the Bible is so great

that it reaches deeper

than just the surface.

It’s not

just surface-level

fun.

It also gives you full

and deep

joy.

Psalm 16:8–9 (ESV)

I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.

The Bible makes not just

the heart glad

but your entire being!

Psalm 16:11 (ESV)

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

A complete fulness of joy

is what the Bible gives you.

Pleasure and enjoyment!

Whatever gives you great

pleasure

enjoyment

and joy

spending time with friends and family

achieving something great

that you worked hard for

I want you

to see the Bible

like that too!

Think of something

that you do

that refreshes you

especially

when you are tired.

One of the things

I do

especially

when I was in high school

was listen to music.

talk about how I always had music ipod went to concerts

Whenever I felt down

or just tired

I would listen to music

and I would feel a lot better!

And I would listen to music

while working out

to give me that energy

and motivation!

Students look at the Bible

similar

to how you view music

or anything

that you do

to bring refreshment

to your life.

But better!

Even music

gets boring

over time.

Anything that you find fun

will eventually become boring.

Because those things were never meant to fully satisfy.

That’s why I was depressed in high school even though

I had all the music and all the entertainment

But the Bible

never gets boring

it fills you with pleasure

forevermore the Psalm says!

Because the Bible is the only thing

and fulfill you

Look at the Bible

as a cold lemonade

on a hot summer day.

Look at it

as the thing

that will give you great refreshment!

Remember the Bible makes your life more fun

because it brings energy back into your life!

2. It makes you infinitely rich (v.8b-10)

We see this in v.8b-9a

‘the command of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;

Here the Bible

is described as pure

and clean.

So pure

and clean

that it enlightens the eyes

it opens your eyes

and it lasts forever.

When I came

to student ministry

at FBC

for the first time.

One of the things

that I found very interesting

was the water we drink here.

When I first came here

we ran out

of water

I went to buy more

bottled water.

And I just bought

any random pack

of bottled water.

It happened

to be spring water.

And then I realized

a lot of you don’t like

spring water!

I don’t know why!

You guys like

purified water! (show purified water bottle)

In my mind

I’m like

you guys are so picky!

Water is water!

What’s the difference?

I guess

perhaps

it’s because

spring water

doesn’t taste

pure or clean to you!

What’s interesting

is that scientists

have found

the purest

and cleanest

natural water out there.

I thought

it was Fiji Water.

That’s pretty fancy

water.

But it’s the water

from Patagonia

in South America. (patagonia water pic)

Incredible

right?

Don’t you just want to take a drink?

Isn’t it just eye-opening?

Students

the Bible

is even

cleaner

and purer

than that.

It is crystal clear

and pure

so come drink from it.

Come to the Bible

as the most beautiful

purest water

to drink from.

When you fear God

it’s like

the cleanest water

imaginable.

One of the reasons

that the water

from the Patagonia

is so clean.

Is because

it existed

before any industrialization.

For hundreds

if not

thousands of years.

The Bible

was written

with a fear

and respect

of God

that existed

for thousands of years

that’s why

it’s so clean.

And that’s why

the Bible is true.

The rest of v.9 says, ‘the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.’

Mankind

has been making rules

ever since

they’ve been

on the earth.

Sometimes the rules are good.

You don’t want to drive

80 mph

in a neighborhood.

But here’s an interesting law

in Maryland

of all places!

A person may not profanely curse and swear or use obscene language upon or near any street, sidewalk or highway within the hearing of persons passing by, upon or along such street, sidewalk or highway.

In other words

in the state of Maryland

it is illegal

to curse

or swear

while driving.

If you are passing someone

who can hear you

curse

or

swear

it is illegal.

Now

I don’t know

how to feel

about this law.

On one hand

you shouldn’t curse or swear

at all!

But on the other hand

how in the world

are police

supposed to

enforce this?

Imagine a policeman

hears you swear

oop

there’s a $100 ticket.

The policeman

may have to

write himself

a ticket too

once in a while!

But God’s rules

are true.

They are never silly

or wrong.

All of it

is righteous.

In Islam

a religion

seen to be so rigorous

and righteous

with such nice rule

also has a rule

that if a dog touches anything

you have to wash that thing

seven times.

Thankfully

the Bible has not one

silly

rule.

When

you have something

so pure

so clean

so true

and vigorously

right

you have something

very expensive.

v.10, ‘more to be desired they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

As of a couple days ago

a single

ounce

of gold

is worth almost $2500.

Gold is extremely difficult

to get.

Not to mention

that it’s finite.

There is only a limited amount

of gold

that exists.

It is possible

to run out of gold

one day.

Honey

because it has more fructose

than standard sugar

is 25% sweeter

than sugar.

It is

one of the sweetest

natural substances

in the world.

Imagine

you have something

that is purer and cleaner

than the water from Patagonia.

You have something

that is 100% true and righteous.

And you have something more expensive than gold

and sweeter than honey.

You know

you can buy

the Patagonia Water

I was talking about?

It’s $140 a bottle. (apsu water)

And yet the Bible

that has all the features

I just mentioned

is infinitely more expensive

than that.

Infinitely more valuable

than that.

The Bible

is worth

more than millions

more than billions

more than trillions

and it’s right here

at your fingertips.

And yet so many people

use their Bible

as a dust collector.

And it’s because

they don’t know

how valuable

it truly is.

Students

how would you treat

a trillion dollars?

Wouldn’t you at least

want to look at it

every day? (vault of money pic)

How much more

should you open

the thing

that makes you infinitely rich

the Bible?

Every day

students

go open your Bible

and look

at the infinite

riches

inside

and understand it.

How fun

would life be?

If you had trillions of dollars?

You have it.

The Bible.

The Bible makes your life more fun

because it makes you infinitely rich.

And it is God’s design (slide)

for a truly enjoyable life.

But because of sin (sin slide)

we instead bring pain

and misery

creating a broken world (brokeness slide).

But the good news (gospel slide)

is that God sent His Son

who lived

a perfect

sinless

life

to be the substitute

for the punishment

of your sins

by dying on the cross.

And He offers this

as a free gift

so that you don’t

have to do anything

except believe in Him (believes slide)

to have eternal life.

And you receive

eternal life

not just when you die

but today

right now

you will have a new life.

So that you would have

a fun

enjoyable

and fulfilling life

in Him

that God designed all along. (restore slide)

Let’s pray.