I find it inspiring to read the Bible, but I can't go along with those who say it's the divine Word of God, because frankly I find some of it kind of hard to swallow. Why can't we just choose the parts we agree with and leave the rest alone? — L.K.

We could do this, of course; many people actually do exactly that -- picking and choosing what they'll believe in the Bible while rejecting the rest. They are like the people of whom Jesus said, "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!" (Mark 7:9).

But let me ask you a question: How will you decide what parts of the Bible you'll accept and what parts you'll reject? You see, what you're doing is setting yourself up as a judge over the Bible. But if you do that, you'll miss its main message -- and that would be tragic. The Bible has one message from one end to the other -- the message of God's love for us.

How do we know God loves us? We know it because the Bible tells us He created us and gave us the capacity to know Him. We know it too because the Bible tells us He takes care of us and provides for us. We know it most of all because the Bible tells us God sent His Son into the world to give His life for us, so our sins could be forgiven and we could be with Him in heaven forever.

Don't miss God's message for you. Instead, ask God to speak to you through the pages of the Bible -- and He will. And when He does, you'll want to humble yourself before Him, and open your heart and life to Jesus Christ.