Daily Devotional For December 29, 2025
I bear witness to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone should add (words) to it, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book, and if anyone should take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part in the Tree of Life and in the holy city, things which are written in this book. Rev 22:18-19.
This is, at first glance, a very threatening way for God to end the Bible! “Don’t mess with this book! If you touch even a word of it, you will be in such trouble that you will wish your life were over!” While these threatening words undergird the authority of the Book of Revelation in particular, they seem appropriate also for the Bible as a whole.
The Bible as it is does not contain all truth. “Two plus two equals four” is a truth, for example. But it isn’t in the Bible. “It is warmer at the equator than at the poles” is a truth. But it isn’t in the Bible. So the Bible is not a collection of everything that is true, it is like a yardstick, by which we measure claims to truth.
That’s why it is important to leave the Bible as it is. The Bible, as it is, is fitted by God for its purpose. To tamper with it, to ignore one part or another, would be to interfere with its divine purpose. To add something or to leave something out is to distort God’s purpose. It seems to me that has implications for us as well. Every one of us is unique. We too are fitted for a purpose. We might want to add or subtract from the work God has done with us, but we would be wiser to accept His purpose and use our unique characteristics for His glory.
Kathleen Donovan, former missionary to Papua New Guinea, describes this humorously.1 “I have fat legs,” she says, “multicolored because of varicose veins. . . They’re not things of beauty, . . . but they reach perfectly from the ground to my hips. . . . They never tempt other people to envy.” She goes on to point out that because of her legs, she has learned methods of varicose vein management that are helpful to others. Her legs were even used by a friend as an illustration of the results of sacrificial missionary service. It turns out that the ailment was inherited rather than the result of standing for hours at operating tables. Nevertheless, the sight of Kathleen’s legs inspired a mission presentation that convinced others to consider missions. Some listeners might never have done so if Kathleen’s legs “had been slim and beautiful.”
Donovan concludes, “Our job is to accept gratefully what we’ve been given, and find ways of using it to the glory of God.” That would be true of the Bible as well. We should take it as it has been given, rather than try to manipulate its message to our own satisfaction.
Lord, help me to accept the way You designed me. Use even my less desirable features as an illustration of Your benevolent purpose!
1 Kath Donovan, Growing Through Stress (Berrien Springs, MI: Institute of World Mission, Andrews University, 2002), 36.