This week is our Missions emphasis at Crossroads. I appreciate a church that has a missionary passion and zeal. Our speaker on Sunday mentioned a quote from Cameron Townsend who was the founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators. Townsend was trying to sell Spanish-language bibles in Guatemala. He discovered that many people didn’t read Spanish because it wasn’t their first language. They weren’t interested in buying a Spanish bible. There were no bibles in their own minority language. This prompted one man to ask Townsend, “Mister, if your God is so great why doesn’t he speak my language?”
The shock of that question prompted Townsend to start training people to help translate the Bible into local languages. He founded a mission organization that has gone around the world with the purpose of giving each people group a Bible in their own language. Through this ministry, over 1500 groups have a portion of the Bible in their language. But more than 3000 groups still have no access to Scripture in their language.
We serve a God who speaks. In the opening chapter of Genesis the phrase “and God said” is used ten times. He spoke everything into creation. He spoke through the prophets. In these last days, “he has spoken to us by his Son.” (Hebrews 1:2) He speaks to us today through his word.
It’s a great privilege to be able to pick up a Bible and read it any time we like, or to pick up a smartphone and read from a Bible app. We are so blessed that we seldom stop to think that many others are still waiting for this opportunity. Don’t take Bible reading for granted. Read it and hear the voice of the Lord.
