More than 500 years have passed since some men wanted to have the light under a table and thus be able to submerge the world in deranged darkness. More than 500 years have passed when they wanted to have the absolute truth knotted with chains and isolated from men as if that were a giant monster to fear.
Today we enjoy a wide range of Bible formats. We have the Bible both printed and in applications for PC, Mobiles and Tablets and we enjoy many translations of it. Today the poorest person can own a Bible. But all this progress is due to the fierce struggle that certain men sustained so that today we can enjoy the Word of God with freedom.
The biography of Martin Luther is very interesting, because through his story we see a man who thirsted for God, just as the psalmist says: “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God”. (Psalm 42:1). Thirst that was created from some events that had, which were the preparation to create in the young Luther a jealous man of God and the Scriptures.
It is said that once while Luther walked, lightning fell near him and from that moment his whole life changed. That young man who seemed to be a brilliant mind and that everyone had his eyes on him, now no longer cares about simple academic titles, but his soul asks for a deeper answer about his sins and needs to rest from that to as he may.
Beloved brothers, in the same way our soul cries out for our need of God and of His Word, with despair, with agony. We need God!
The light did not take long to reach the life of Martin Luther. One day he went to the library to read, he walks and suddenly he sees something tied up in chains, what will it be? Is it something so important? “The Bible”, the Word of God bound with chains, separated from society, hidden from men. That ray did not compare with what young Martin had now before his eyes.
It should be noted that the cost of a Bible at that time was disproportionate, not everyone could own one, there was also the problem of language, not everyone could have a Bible in their language since these translations were not available. The biggest problem was that the Catholic Church, at that time was forbidden to read the Bible, since they maintained that the pope was the only one who had the power to interpret the Scriptures, and that the word of the pope was sufficient. Thus lived that society, silenced by detractors of the faith who wanted to hide in chains the precious truth of the Word of God.
However, Martin Luther did not swallow this idea that the only one who could interpret the Bible was the pope. He continued to visit the Library and study the Bible. One of his greatest impressions of the Scriptures was when he could read that the young Samuel was dedicated to God from his childhood. But there was a passage that would shed light on his life once and for all:
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Romans 1:17
“The just shall live by faith.” Eureka! Martin has found a too valuable piece hidden by men. The church taught at that time that the more works you did the more you approached heaven, preaching indulgences, visits to Rome in order to repeat a group of Our Fathers, had their foolish relics which worshiped and idolized. Now Martin has all the absolute truth of the gospel before his eyes in a single verse.
From then on the Bible would not be with so many chains, because that man was against all odds, above popes, councils, against the entire Roman Catholic empire and spent years translating the Bible into German.
The light of the Bible is enough to light our hearts through the Holy Spirit and that is precisely what it did with Martin Luther.
Today we give glory to God, because there are no chains, there is no impediment to know the God of the Bible, we have everything necessary to read and study a lot, we simply can not put chains, and we give glory to God for the life of Martin Luther and those men who have dedicated their own lives so that today we have a Bible without chains.
