The Cleansing Power of Scriptures

Photo Above: The Geiranger Fjord, Norway Photographer: Alfon34

The Cleansing Power of Scriptures

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” Galatians 6:7,8

One of the most important spiritual disciplines of a Christian is the regular reading of scripture. There are many reasons God invites us and calls us to read the scriptures. One reason is because of the impact it has on our minds and hearts. The Holy Spirit through the scriptures cleanses the way we think and view the world.

Ravi Zacharias uses a great story of how a pastor illustrates the cleansing power of the Bible to one of his congregants during a counseling session. During the meeting the pastor and the congregant were dialoguing on the importance of reading the Bible. The congregant snapped at the pastor that he was tired of the reading the Bible and considered it a useless task due to his poor memory. The pastor being perturbed by this went into his closet and took out a woven basket. The pastor led the congregant into his kitchen to the sink. The pastor told the man “fill this basket up with water for me and once you fill it up come and tell me.” The congregant at first resisted and said no because there was holes in the basket. He explained to the pastor that it was a useless task because the water would soon come out of the basket after being filled up. The pastor told the congregant to just trust him and do the task. The congregant reluctantly and slowly filled up the basket with water. In a short time the basket was filled to the brim with water and the congregant called the pastor in. The basket was already starting to leak. The congregant tells the pastor “see I told you the basket would leak.” The pastor sharply said back “yes, but it is a lot cleaner isn’t it?”

In the same way the basket is cleansed by the water, our minds are cleansed by the scriptures. In the same way the basket leaks, our hearts and minds leak God’s word and become influenced by the world. For that reason God invites us and calls us to read the scriptures to be cleansed and impacted by them. The effective Christian needs buckets of truth imparted to them to remain Christ centered. The less we read the Bible, the less we are influenced by God. Finding time to read the scriptures is a battle, but it is worth fighting for, because it will slowly change our lives and make us more like Christ.