From time to time, folks have asked me if there is some "magical formula" that I use in order to motivate people to consider becoming New Testament Christians. When I talk to people in the workplace (or any other place) that I know who are interested in spiritual things, I encourage them to follow three simple instructions taken from the Bible (and no, I never argue with any of them over their religious or denominational beliefs — life's simply too short, and I don't have the time to waste — in fact, my late grandmother once told me, "Mike, I'm living on borrowed time" — aren't we all?).The three simple instructions are:
1) "Read" the Bible for yourself (without any outside interference or input from well-meaning family or friends) — especially the New Testament (Ephesians 3:1-4 - note the word "read" in vs. 4), since this is the testament we are under today (1 Corinthians 9:21; Galations 6:2 ASV; cf. Romans 7; Romans 8:1-2; Hebrews 7-8). If we can motivate people to just "read" the Bible, we have won half the battle in convincing them to "obey" the saving gospel of Christ.
2) "Heed" the Bible's instructions — note the word "heed" or the phrase, "take heed" in the New Testament (using a good online concordance).
3) "Obey" the Bible's instructions — specifically, the spiritual instructions found in the New Testament (Romans 6:17) recorded by the inspired New Testament writers as they were guided or "moved" by God's Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:15-21) .
Then I tell them that if they have any questions about what they read, please write them down, and I will be more than happy to try and provide them with a scriptural answer (1 Peter 3:15 KJV; cf. Acts 8:25-35). If I cannot accomplish this with the study of the scriptures that I have done, I will find someone who does know the answer.
Thus, the above three biblical instructions contain the simple formula that I use regarding the promotion of Bible reading (without the magic!) — Read it, heed it, and obey it!
—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets
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