Several years ago, I had a meeting in Washington, D.C. and heard a surprisingly honest and sincere speech by then Ohio Congressman, John Kasich.
It’s been a while so you may not remember Kasich when he was in Washington. He was a nine-term Congressman and became Chairman of the House Budget Committee when the Republicans gained control of Congress in 1994. He won so much acclaim for balancing the federal budget that he ran a short-lived campaign for president in 1999. Kasich later served for eight years as Governor of Ohio. Indeed, he is a distinguished public servant.
Back to his speech. It wasn’t being made with usual measure of rhetoric that you hear from a power broker and politician like Kasich. He had decided to call it quits. Frankly, it was refreshing to see someone of Kasich’s stature admit that he too was frustrated by all of the lobbying and special interests that seemed to be winning out.
At the time he made the speech, Kasich’s name was being touted as a running mate for then presidential candidate, George Bush. Since he hailed from a state with a large cache of electoral votes, I thought he had a better than average chance of getting the nod. But Kasich wasn’t stumping for the vice presidential nomination when I heard him speak. Instead, he was talking about a need to renew the national spirit. He once told a reporter, “We need to renew the sense that believing in God is the wide road and not the narrow road. Faith in God is not to be viewed as judgment. It is to be viewed as an opportunity for human beings to be better.”
It was something else that Kasich said, however, that really impressed me. Leaning over the podium, he looked us right in the eye, and said, “We need to go back to the Word of God,” noting that our country has strayed from the moral code that God laid out for us in Bible and suggesting that the real answers to our national ills could be found there.
He was right! In fact, I am amazed at how seldom most Christians read their Bibles. It’s full of great advice. But if we don’t commit it to memory, how will we ever remember to apply it to the daily temptations and trials that life brings our way?
I ran across a poem that says it better than I ever could:
Two Books
They lie on the table side by side,
The Holy Bible and the TV Guide.
One is well worn and cherished with pride,
Not the Bible, but the TV Guide.
One is used daily to help folks decide.
No, not the Bible, but the TV Guide.
As the pages are turned, what shall they see?
Oh, what does it matter, turn on the TV.
So they open the book in which they confide.
No, not the Bible, but the TV Guide.
The Word of God is seldom read,
Maybe a verse as they fall into bed.
Exhausted, sleepy, and tired as can be,
Not from reading the Bible, from watching TV.
So then back to the table side by side,
Lie the Holy Bible and the TV Guide.
No time for prayer, no time for the Word,
The Plan of Salvation is seldom heard.
But forgiveness of sin, so full and free,
Is the found in the Bible, not on TV!
Copyright 2021, Pen Holder Ministries
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