There is a verse in the book of Romans that says..”So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17) There are several ways of hearing. When a preacher or teacher opens the word and brings a message you are hearing the Word. When you read the bible out loud to your self or, just reading and silently meditating, you are hearing the Word. I have discovered yet another way to hear the Word and that is through audio. Of course there are audio CD’s and tapes of sermons and teachings but, I’m talking about the Bible on CD.
I had been trying to find a Bible on audio CD for quite a while. I bought one and gave it away. It was a really dry read. Not that the Word of God is dry but, if you are going to listen to someone read they have to be able to hold your attention. There was no background music or noise – just reading.
Someone gave me one for my birthday. And it was a really nice one. There were some background sounds to make it more interesting and help to hold your attention but, the CD’s were poorly done meaning, whoever made the audio bible didn’t take the time to record the names of tracks and other digital information on the CD. Why is this important to me? I use an iPod. I input every audio CD into my computer. When I tried to input my audio bible into my computer there were no track names. They also had not been submitted to the CDDB, a database containing information on most commercial audio CD’s. I gave this CD set to my Mom for her birthday. She isn’t interested in putting them on the computer or and iPod.
I did finally find one that had background music, scene noise, lots of actors playing all the major characters, and, the proper digital information, titles, and track information were available on the CD’s.
Having said all that, back to hearing the Word. For months now I have been listening to my audio bible. Mostly at night while I am asleep. That’s right. I said while I am asleep. I love it when I end up in the story in my dreams. What I have noticed is that when I read the scripture during the day it is much more familiar to me. I can listen to certain books like Daniel and set it to loop all night. In just a few weeks I am now more familiar with the book of Daniel than I have ever been.
I know the stories. It’s like I was there. I know Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego’s faith and their determination to remain faithful to God. I know Daniels faithfulness to worship only God in the face of death in the lion’s den. And what does this do for me? Encourages me in my faith to trust God in everything I do, every situation I face, every obstacle that comes my way.
Listening to an audio bible is a great way to increase your faith. I got mine here: http://www.seizoom.com/products/wordofpromise/
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You and I have a lot in common it seems we have the same routines.