During this past week I came across a list of the top 10 best selling books of all time. It piqued my interest, so I began to search other sources to see if the lists were similar and found they were all pretty much the same. Let me show you a sample of the lists:
Top Ten Best Selling Books of All Time
1 – Don Quixote cc.1605 by Miguel de
Cervantes
(500 million copies sold)
2 – A Tale of Two Cities cc.1859 by
Charles Dickens
(200 million copies sold)
3 – The Lord of the Rings cc.1954 by
J.R.R. Tolkien
(150 million copies
sold)
4
– The Little Prince (142 million copies sold)
5
– Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (107 million copies sold)
6
– And Then There Were None (100 million copies sold)
7
– The Dream of the Red Chamber (100 million copies sold)
8
– The Hobbit (100 million copies sold)
9
– She: A History of Adventure (100 million copies sold)
10 – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe cc. 1950 by C.S. Lewis
(85 million copies sold)
From
500 million to 85 million copies sold. However most of the Best-Selling lists
leave out two top books.
·
The Quran 800 million copies
· The Bible 6 Billion Bibles currently in print
The Bible is the undisputed best-selling book of all time. Not only is it the most purchased book in the world but it is also the most read, the most printed, the most gifted, the most quoted verbally and in print, digitally and non-digitally, and the most loved book of all time.
It tops every category on any day or any week of any month or any year. Allow me to share some current statistics. (Sources: wordsrated.com; Wikipedia; & various other online sites and articles quoted and/or compiled.)
Bibles
Printed Each Year
·
On average there are 100 million Bibles printed each year.
·
In
the year 1900, there were 2300 people in the world for every one printed Bible.
· Today there are 8 printed Bibles for every 10 people in the world, not accounting for digitally accessible Bible.
Bibles
Sold Each Year in the U.S.
·
20 million Bibles sold in the U.S. each year
·
1.66 million Bibles each month
·
384,615 Bibles each week
·
54,795 Bibles every day
·
38 Bibles sold each minute
· 1 Bible is purchased on average every 1.5 seconds in America.
In
Addition to Bibles Sold in the U.S.
·
115,055 Bibles are given away or distributed everyday
·
59.5 million Bibles were distributed by the Gideon’s in 2016 alone.
That is more than 113 Bibles per minute.
·
92% of Americans own at least 1 Bible whether
it was purchased by them or given to them.
·
The average Christian in America owns 9 Bibles and wants to buy more.
·
25%
of the Bibles printed each year are purchased in the U.S.
·
YouVersion, a top downloaded Bible app for mobile devices, has over
100 million total downloads and counting. It was one of the first 200 apps that were
available on iTunes. It’s also been a top 100 free app for 3 consecutive years.
·
More than 66,000 people are using a Bible app at any given second.
·
3 people share a Bible verse on their social network every second.
· Isaiah 53:5 is the most shared Bible verse on the internet today.
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
Finally
·
In
1950 the population of the U.S. was 151 million
·
Today
the population is 331 million, a population growth of 119%
·
However,
Bible sales during that same period in the US has grown by 140% perhaps
indicating a growing interest in God’s Word among Americans since 1950.
· This sort of flies in the face of what the world wants people to believe.
What a person believes and how they feel will often determine what they do and if they succeed.
God wants you to feel encouraged about Him, His Word, His plan, and the Church, not discouraged. The world has always been a wicked and evil place. It’s not the fault of the Church nor is it God’s fault. Which one of you is wicked and evil? You’re not! Stop being tempted to believe you are.
People make up their own minds. We are supposed to show them they have a choice. And it is plain that God wants you to be strong and full of courage, encouraged … not discouraged and ashamed and weak in faith. God has provided a way for you to start encouraging yourself like David did when everyone else was around him was depressed. (1 Samuel 30:6)
Joshua 1 NKJV
1 ¶ After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, it came to pass that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying:
7 “Only be strong and very
courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My
servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left,
that you may prosper wherever you go.
8 “This Book of the Law shall
not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that
you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will
make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
The
Word of God, the Bible, is:
·
A
Rock upon which we stand. Matthew 7:24
·
A
strong tower into which we run. Luke 1:38 Proverbs 18:10
·
A
lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Psalms 119:105
·
A
shield against our enemies. Proverbs 30:5
·
A
sword with which we do battle. Ephesians 6:17
·
Healing
for our wounds. Psalms 107:20
·
Seeds
for our next harvest. Luke 8:11
· Faith for our future. Romans 10:10
The
Word of God:
·
Saves
me 1 Peter 1:23
·
Strengthens
me Acts 20:32 Psalms 119:28
·
Separates
me from this world Hebrews 4:12
·
Sanctifies
me before God John 17:17
· Secures my eternity Luke 8:12 James 1:21
And I hope all my brothers and sisters in Christ feel just like me. I want to go to war with people who believe they are winners, not losers; strong, not weak; courageous, not afraid; encouraged, not depressed. Don’t give me the 10 spies who could only see with human eyes. Give me men and women, boys, and girls with the high praises of God in their mouths and the two-edged sword in their hands.
The Bible is God’s Holy Word!
Read it
Or at least listen to it every day …
YouVersion Bible App
Get it into your life; in your mind; in
your heart; in your home.
Thursday Morning Men’s Bible
Study at 6:30am
Tuesday Evening Women’s Bible
Study at 6:30pm
Sunday School for the whole
family Sunday 9:30am
Wednesday evening Bible Study at
7pm
Rehearse it
Only you can decide what you are going to meditate on
Apply it to your life
