Finding freedom, avoiding disaster
Mum plays Rummikub every single day. It is a great game for the elderly. It keeps her alert and sharp. Rummy-O (as it is sometimes called) is a game of both chance and strategy. We have to work with the random cards we draw. No one argues over the game because we all know what we can and cannot do. It is fun, challenging, and addictive!
Can you imagine what streets would be like when we don’t know or don’t follow traffic rules? It’s not about getting a speeding ticket but it’s about keeping ourselves and others safe so we get to where we need to go.
Just as there there are rules to play any game or drive on the roads, there are also “rules” about living life. Many people today do not believe in absolutes. Freedom is not freedom when it creates confusion and chaos. The Bible is a our Creator’s manual for living. It has all the secrets to make life operate well.
But more than that, it is his love letter to us. When we follow his wise and loving design, there is peace in our hearts even when all around us is in chaos. We avoid many unnecessary heartaches and disasters in our lives. We get to where we want and need to go and ultimately find eternal life.
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. – Joshua :8, ESV
The Bible is a library of 66 books: 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New.
- How were these 66 books selected?
- What is the criterion or standard of judgement to determine a book’s authenticity?
- How does a book get to qualified to make it into the collection of sacred books we call the Bible?
For example, many accounts of the Gospel were written but only four are considered “canonical”. Only four made it into the Bible. The word “canon” means solid rod (like a ruler). The word comes from the Greek word kanōn, not to be confused with cannon. The canon refers to a body of principles, rules, standards, or norms that qualify a book to be a biblical book.
This 4.20 min video will help answer the question:
How and when was the canon of the Bible put together?
The church councils followed the following principles to determine whether a book was truly inspired by the Holy Spirit:
- Was the author an apostle or have a close connection with an apostle?
- Is the book being accepted by the body of Christ at large?
- Did the book contain consistency of doctrine and orthodox teaching?
- Did the book bear evidence of high moral and spiritual values that would reflect a work of the Holy Spirit?
The church did not determine the canon. No early church council decided on the canon. It was God, and God alone, who determined which books belonged in the Bible. God’s imparting to his followers what he had already decided.
The human process of collecting the books of the Bible was flawed, but God, in His sovereignty, and despite our ignorance and stubbornness, brought the early church to the recognition of the books he had inspired. – GotQuestions.org
P.S. Mum doesn’t like us to help her. This feisty 93-year-old wants to beat us at Rummy-O on her own. Shhh…. Don’t tell her. We bend the rules a little to accommodate her failing eye sight. 😂