Psalms 40:5 – “Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts which are toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.”

Among the greatest blessings ever given to man is the magnificent and gracious gift of the Bible. David spoke of this blessing: “More to be desired are they than gold, sweeter also than honey and the honey comb. Moreover by them your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward” (Psa. 19:10-11).

Do we appreciate the great gift of the Bible? Do we recognize our tremendous need for it? Each of us needs the book that is sweeter than honey and surpasses all the works of men. I want to suggest to you a few reasons why my family needs this precious book. My family needs the Bible to properly define important words. There are many words which we cannot properly understand without the Bible.

The Bible gives us God’s definition of a home. What is a home? The latest census reveals that the “home” in America is changing. What we call the “nuclear family” is on the verge of extinction! There are many single-parent families and “families” where two men or two women are living together. The Bible is the only book that is going to tell us what a home is. I can’t expect my family to learn about the home from society, school, or from T.V. The Bible presents the home as God intended it to be. If we want our children to be the kind of wife, mother, father, or husband that God would have them to be, then they will need the Bible and good instruction in it.

The Bible gives us God’s definition of genuine love. Only the Bible teaches and demonstrates the essence of pure and true love. In Ephesians 5:25, the instruction is, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The Bible defines “love” as a selfless giving of self for the benefit of others. If our children are going to grow up understanding what love truly is, they are going to need the Bible. We should want our family to understand what love is, so that they can have the right basis for marriage, the right attitude toward their parents and, the right attitude toward their children and their brothers and sisters in Christ. John 13:34-35 records, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

My family needs the Bible to come to understand sin. Only in the Bible can they come to know sin for what it really is and develop a proper attitude toward it. The world teaches them to laugh at sin; ridicules sin as an old-fashioned notion; teaches them to grab all the gusto they can while selfishly serving self; to lay aside the old restraining values of their parents. Our children need to grow to hate sin, despise evil, and flee from it. One can only learn it in the Bible. Psalms 119:104 states, “Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.” They should come to see sin as a dishonor to God and self (Rom. 1). They need to be able to see the consequences of sin and the death, pain, and misery in this life and even worse in the life to come. My family needs to learn about sin. My family needs the Bible to come to know the church. Today we can observe organized religions and never come to know what God intended for the church and what Christ died for. Unfortunately we can even observe some “faithful churches” and still not know the church of the Bible. There are some things our children need to know and see. They need to see enthusiastic participation in evangelism (1 Tim. 3:15; Acts 8:4). They need to see a love for assembling with the saints. Psalm 122:1 emphasizes, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.” They need to see a bold stand for the truth regardless of the consequences or the cost. They need to know and see that God’s prescribed order for the organization, worship, and work of the church is not respected by the majority of people in the world.

My family needs the Bible because it tells us what the future holds. Do you want to know what’s in store for you and your family? God’s word tells us! The Bible presents us with two alternatives and the paths which lead to each. “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matt. 7:13-14). In Galatians 6, the Bible tells us this: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life” (vv. 7-8). The Bible tells us, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:19-21). You can’t live like this and go to heaven when you die. The Bible tells us that we are not headed for anywhere on this earth. We are headed for eternity. I am living, breathing and working for eternity, for heaven. My family and your family needs to know that. They need the Bible.

Do we take the Bible for granted? Do we ignore its rich blessing? Yes, my family and your family need the Bible. We need that message of hope and salvation. Does your family know these things?