I know the importance of studying the Word of God daily and sticking to sound doctrine. Not so long ago when I was still in the New Age and Occult, I was always seeking for answers. For more "hidden" knowledge. For more wisdom and enlightement. It was a hamster wheel that led to nothing but chaos and more confusion and deception. I had a Bible at home but never read it. Because of this I had started to adopt all kinds of theories and philosophies over the years and was looking for answers anywhere BUT the Bible since I had also embraced the "popular" cultural idea that the Bible was nothing else but a cavemen book that should not be taken too literally at all. The more I listened to the world around me, the more I began to create a god in my own image, something that would always make me feel comfortable. Something like truth became flexible ("My truth does not have to be your truth, we can all have our own truth.." etc).

Ever since I got saved (All glory to Christ for saving His lost sheep), and I have studied the entire Bible, guided by the Holy Spirit, all my questions have been answered and my eyes have truely opened. In the New Age and Occult I was taught that we as humans are gods ourselves (satan's same old lie as in Genesis 3:5). And that we have so much progressed throughout the ages. That we have become more developed and enlightened. But it is all a lie. Everything that the Bible describes about how people are and how we behave, how wicked our minds, hearts and desires are, it is all still accurate these days. We are still doing the exact same things people did thousands of years ago and have not progressed one bit. Our wicked hearts desires everything that opposes good. We think of ourselves as being a "good" person but when we test ourselves to the ten commandments (God's moral Law) we can clearly see that we are not good at all. We make the mistake of judging ourselves by OUR own standards, and not by the standards of a Holy God who is completely just.

If we would stand in court for a crime, we will be judged according to that crime. The judge won't let us free simply because we also have done some good things in our lives. No, justice requiers a punishment for crimes. The same counts for sin. A Holy God can not turn a blind eye on sin or He would not be a just judge but would be corrupt. We can not enjoy fellowship with God when we are still in our sins. And since we as humans are not capable of change because of our sinful nature (Ecclesiastes 7:20), we need a Savior. God gave us this Savior (Isaiah 9:6-7, Jeremiah 31:31). His name is Jesus Christ. He took on the sin of the world for the reasons mentioned above, so that we might have life in Him. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:23). That whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. We will never be able to save ourselves because we all fall short to the glory of a holy God. (Romans 3:23)

Jesus Christ is the mediator between us and God (Hebrews 9:15). Jesus paid our debt on the cross (Isaiah 53:5, John 1:29, Luke 22:20, John 19:30) and when we repent and we accept Jesus Christ and believe in Him, God sees no longer our sins but sees Christ's righteousness covering us (Ephesians 1:4-5). Through repentance and acceptance of Jesus’ death on our behalf, we become God's children. I always thought we all were children of God since He is the creator but we BECOME children of God (John 1:12). That is why Jesus said we all must be born again to be able to enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:3). We will not go to heaven by default (Matthew 5:20). If that were so, we would be stuck in the same situation in heaven as we are now on earth. Jesus Himself described how narrow the path to eternal life is. He said: "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few" (Matthew 7:13-14).

This is also the exact reason why Jesus said that He didn't came to earth to bring peace but rather division and a sword (Luke 12:49-53, Matthew 10:34). Ever heard how Jesus is all about tolerance? A fluffy, cuddly Jesus that never mentions sin or hell or the need for repentance? Probably you have but that is not what the historical Jesus Christ taught. The historical, Biblical Jesus taught more about hell than He did about heaven because of the seriousness and urgency of it. Sadly, todays world tries to change Jesus His teachings to fit it's own agenda and desires, so that Jesus's teachings become more accepable and comfortable for todays world to hear. By doing so they break the second commandment and make a god in their own image (something I was guilty of in the past as well).

Jesus Christ is the narrow gate (John 10:9). We need to repent of our sins and trust in Him. Like Jesus Himself said: "...but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:5 ). Biblical repentance involves a complete and irreversible change of mind, heart, and actions. Repentance is recognizing that our sins are offensive to God. Repentance is necessary so that we are no longer slaves of sin (John 8:34) but become servants of righteousness (Romans 6:18). Only Jesus Christ can restore our relationship with the holy God and only through repentance and faith in Him can we get eternal life.

I am happily surprised that The Bible is now also available on Steam. Trustworthy translations I would recommend are the KJV and the ESV. I like that you can create bookmarks so you can easily continue where you have left. The Trivia is a great adding and helps to test your knowledge about the Bible. Although I like the fact that I can now read the Bible also on Steam, it is for me not a replacement for the Bible I have at home, but still a great adding to my continuous Bible study. I will remain cautious that The Bible on Steam does not change or add things to the Scriptures, since nowadays these things do happen a lot and there is a lot of deception out there to lead people astray. God does not change and neither does His Word. Always stick to sound doctrine.

The Bible is not an old book that was written by "cavemen". It is the living Word for God and there is a reason why it is called LIVING Word (Hebrews 4:12). The Bible is not a book you read once and then you are done. It needs to be studied continuously since God will reveal everytime more things to you while reading it, once you are guided by the Holy Spirit. The Bible is to be read in its entirety, not cherry picking some verses while ignoring the rest. It is one complete story, from Old Testament to New Testament. The Old Testament tells the why, The New Testament shows the how.

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32