You are not having trouble with your eyesight, and this title is not a “typo”.  On the fourth Wednesday of January since 2014, Library Shelfie Day has been celebrated by the New York Public Library.  On this day, all book lovers are encouraged to share selfies of themselves in front of library shelves or in front of their own personal book collections.  These “shelfies” have become very creative, with some book lovers going out of their way to be unique.

        “Words from Above”, which are the words of the Holy Bible, do not contain actual photographs of any kind, but they do give us a “picture” of God and His creation, particularly His creation of the human race.  In the beginning, God created man in His own image and after His likeness, thus making man the most special of God’s creation.  In addition, God breathed into the nostrils of the first man the “breath of life”, so that man became a living soul.  Man is unique in this regard, as no other of God’s creation has a living soul.

        The Bible is made up of 66 books, written by over 40 men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit of God.  These books are historical, prophetical, inspirational, instructional, and much more.  They tell true stories of the lives of Old testament patriarchs, the nation of Israel, the early Christian church, and the life of Jesus the Messiah and Savior of the world.

        Within this most holy of books, we read about another book that is being kept by God in heaven, and it is called the “book of life”.  In this book God writes the names of all His faithful followers, those who have confessed their sins, who have asked God for forgiveness of those sins, and who have invited Jesus into their lives.

Jesus on one occasion sent out His twelve disciples to preach about the coming of the kingdom of God, and gave them special powers to help convince people to become part of this kingdom.  When they returned from their mission, they rejoiced that even devils were subject to them through the power given to them by Jesus.  Jesus declared to them that even better than being able to cast out demons by the power of Jesus was to have their names written in the book of life.

        In Revelation 20, the apostle John records a vision in which he saw “the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened.  Another book was opened, which is the book of life.  Whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Larry R. Steffee is pastor of the Center Hill Brethren In Christ Church on Miller Road in Smithville.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  For informa-tion, you may email lrsteffeetn@yahoo.com.