For most of my life I felt like I was always searching for something, a missing piece.

As a child I wanted the newest toys or to see the latest movies. As I grew older, I began searching in different ways. Friends, sports, academic achievements, a sporty car even making LOTS of money. Although I had some of those things, I always felt something was still missing, and emptiness that I could not fill.

After trusting Christ as my Savior, I now had a peace. I could not quite understand it but I no longer desired to have the next “great” thing or wait anxiously for the next pay raise or job promotion.

But there was still something missing…

I was attending church faithfully every week on Sunday morning, but I still was not satisfied. I started going Sunday nights and Wednesday evenings. I began helping with the teen ministry. That missing part was slowly starting to fade but still something inside me said I was missing something…something important.

One night I remember sitting at home, alone and quietly reading when I remembered something…

When I was a little girl, I would sneak into my parents’ bedroom and look at our “Family Bible.” You know the large one that had the gold edged pages and the fancy cover with a picture of Jesus kneeling and praying. It was never opened or read and I was not allowed to touch it. Well, I did touch it. I like looking at the pictures and carefully pulling apart the gold edges that were still stuck together, because it had never been read. I even tried reading it a couple of times but I never got very far.

At that moment, I realized what that missing piece was…a personal knowledge of God and His Word.

Now, I had my own Bible, and took it to church every Sunday. There was no one telling me not to touch or not to read it. I even had friends at church that encouraged me to read the Bible, but I never gave it much thought. Now I had a DESIRE to know more about God and Jesus. That night for the first time outside of church, I opened my Bible and began reading.

As I began, it was not just some mumbo jumbo words, but God speaking to me.  

1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

I began seeing that God wanted me to know His word so that I could be blessed.

Proverbs 4:20-22 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

I now understood that the Bible was to be my guide, not just a fancy object to be on display in my home.

Psalm 119:5 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

The more I read, the more I wanted to read!  

Ephesians 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

I had finally found the missing piece in the Bible – a personal relationship with my Savior.