Faithful Servants: John Wycliffe

How many times have you been told to read the Bible? Imagine sitting down in church and hearing the pastor say, Don’t you dare read the Bible! Unless you’re a church leader, you are unworthy to study God’s Word. And what if, on top of that, the only copies of the Bible were in Latin? That was the world John Wycliffe was born into in the early 1300s. He loved Jesus, and he knew that, in the Bible, Jesus spoke to people in their own languages. Jesus didn’t force His disciples to learn a foreign language in order to get to know Him. He wanted everybody to have free access to Him, so much so that He died on the cross and rose from the dead to make it possible for people to have a relationship with Him. Does that sound like somebody who would want to keep people away? John Wycliffe, fueled by this love for Jesus and the gospel, fought with some corrupt church leaders (literally and metaphorically) and assembled a team to start translating the Latin Bible into English. Since the printing press hadn’t been invented, they had to write everything out by hand. Unfortunately, Wycliffe died before the translation was complete, but his team finished the job and published their English Bible after his death. Wycliffe’s translation planted the seeds of the Reformation, and it was so influential that, after Wycliffe had been dead for decades, corrupt church leaders had his body dug up and burned at the stake for heresy. God used John Wycliffe to show people how much He loved them. He wants you to know His Truth, revealed in the Person of Jesus Christ and in the Bible (John 5:39; 14:6). Put your faith in His love. • Taylor Eising What surprised you the most from today’s reading? Do you know God’s love for you, shown through Jesus Christ (Romans 5:8)? If not, who is someone you can talk with about this, such as a pastor, camp counselor, or other trusted Christian friend? Jesus is the point of the whole Bible. How can you share the good news that He died and rose againoffering freedom from sin and deathwith others? From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:15-16 (WEB)

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Psalm 19