KNOWING UP FROM DOWN

In the 1890s, archaeologist Sir William Ramsay was convinced the Bible was a fraud. Confident he could prove it false, he set out for the holy land, with a bevy of scientific instruments. Ramsay began calculating the geographic elevations of each Bible location. Every time scripture stated a person left a city and went "up" or "down" to another city, he measured each elevation. His premise? If the Bible is from God, then each "up" and "down" should be correct. If not, human error should exist, and some of the "ups and downs" be inaccurate. 

That’s when frustration overtook him. He discovered every time, without exception, when the Bible stated someone left one place and went "up" to another spot, they always went "up" in elevation. Likewise, when scripture described a person going "down", they always journeyed "down" in elevation. Sometimes, it was a change of merely a few feet. Traveling in ancient times, with no scientific instruments, Ramsay rightly concluded this would be impossible. 

For a die-hard atheist, determined to disprove the Bible, these results stymied him. Fortunately, Ramsay possessed an honest heart. His research convinced him of the Bible's truth. Abandoning atheism, he became a believer and devoted the rest of his life to defending the Bible!  (Source: Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveler)

When you hear of someone attempting to disprove the Bible, get excited. The harder they try, the more they establish its reliability. Skeptics come and go, but the Bible remains. Ramsay is merely one example. Consider Lee Strobel, Josh McDowell and Sir Lionel Luckhoo. All experts in their fields, they focused their skills on disproving the claims of Jesus and the Bible. They have now joined the ranks of believers. The list goes on and on...

The Bible IS God's Word! Even the simple words of scripture possess power. In these short words, "up" and "down", we experience God's wisdom and truth. It's as if God placed his signature all across the pages of scripture. If that's true with such mundane words as "up"and "down", what about the deeper, profound matters that powerfully impact our lives? You can believe the Bible, you can trust it, you can base your life on it, because every word is true...even in the "ups and downs" of life.