Every time I ask a Christian friend of mine a question about religion, he always replies by quoting some Bible verses. That doesn't help since I don't think the Bible is necessarily true. Why won't he answer my questions? — E.C.

Have you ever asked yourself why he uses the Bible to answer your questions? He does it for one reason: He believes the Bible is God's Word, given to us so we could know what to believe and how to live. The Bible "never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21).

That's why I urge you not to dismiss what your friend says, but to reflect on it and be open to it. After all, how could we ever know what the truth is about God and our relationship to Him? We could only know it if God revealed it to us. And this is what He has done in the pages of the Bible.

Why not discover the Bible for yourself, instead of just having your friend quote a few verses? I suggest you start not at the beginning, but at the center -- that is, with Jesus Christ as He is found in the four Gospels of the New Testament. Perhaps over the years you've formed some ideas about Jesus -- but I challenge you to discover what He is really like by reading the Bible for yourself.

Why do I suggest you focus on Jesus? The reason is because He made a startling claim: that He was God in human flesh. And He confirmed this by conquering our final enemy -- death -- by His resurrection. Ask God to show Himself to you as you read. If you do, your life will never be the same.