The unfolding of your words gives light;
it gives understanding to the simple – Psa. 119: 130 (NIV)
One of the tribesmen who helped translate the Scriptures for the Kalinga people (pictured below) in the northern Philippines was named Biano. As a Wycliffe linguist was preparing to return to Australia for a time, he expressed curiosity about why Biano never questioned the Scriptures.
“Biano, we’ve translated 75 per cent of the New Testament now. During all that translation work you’ve asked questions until you understood it. But you never asked questions because you didn’t believe it. You just 
read and believe it. Then you go out and do it. Where I come from in Australia, we have to argue with people about the existence of God, even before we mention the Bible. You just read it and believe it! Why is that?”
Biano looked shocked that his friend would ask such a question.
He replied, “If I wake up in the middle of the night in my house, it’s pitch black and I can’t see a thing. I have to feel around on the floor with my hands until I find the kerosene lamp and match. I have to light the lamp. The kerosene comes up the wick and burns so I can see what I want.
“As we’ve been doing all this translation, it’s as if somebody has lit a lamp inside my head. For the first time, I see and understand who God is. Why wouldn’t I believe?”
What a powerful reminder of how Scriptures can change our hearts and minds! We who have known about the God of the Bible for a long time can forget just how illuminating His Word is to us. When the Lord’s teachings are allowed to enter our lives, they bring true wisdom.
Ponder the ignorance and darkness that would characterize your life without God’s Word!
Written by Dwayne Janke