My Bible: reasons to believe in the power of the Bible
'As a comedian, I sometimes wonder if I look for irony or it looks for me. Those ‘God-incidences’ (I wish that was a less clunky word) crop up so often, at times life sounds stranger than fiction.
On that wretched day at the start of this crisis – that moment when the penny dropped and the rug was pulled from our comfortable world – I turned to the Bible for comfort. I was (and still am) reading The One Year Chronological Bible, New Living Translation, but was a little behind. So, in mid-March, on the day of an effective lockdown, when my diary emptied and my mental health took its biggest tumble to date, I read that day’s extract: Leviticus 14 and 15...
It included such topical classics as Leviticus 14.38, in which a priest puts a house in quarantine for seven days. Then there was Leviticus 15.11: if you’re touched by that fella who’s not rinsed his hands, put a wash on and take a bath.
Thankfully I’m not just a comedian (comedy’s much-needed, but tricky sometimes, especially now all my gigs have moved online). Doing Radio 2’s Pause For Thought used to be my top-up job – now it’s my main income. Writing a ‘thought’ recently themed on angels, I heard that the angelic greeting, ‘Do not be afraid’ is the Bible’s most common instruction. Apparently, it features 365 times, one for every day of the year.
There may be a time for Levitical instruction: those hand-washing and quarantine tips are having their moment. But there’s a daily need to hear God’s main message, so crucial that angels utter it as often as we say, ‘Hello’: Don’t be afraid. We need to hear it, tell it and live it daily.'
Do you have a story to share? Email [email protected]
I was about 19. Somebody had given me a book about people’s testimonies.
I love the psalms and particularly Psalm 121
I had some dark times in my life when I lacked certainty
I went through a period in the pandemic of quite poor mental health
Yesterday, I became aware that I wasn’t really trusting God and his promises
Want to share how the Bible has impacted your life? Email [email protected]