You Know Just What He Needs

How would you like to take a few minutes for a little quiz? Okay? Ready? Let’s go.

I’m going to list a few tools, and you’re going to guess what profession uses them. 

Scaler; mould; burnisher; mouth mirror.

If you guessed dental assistant, give yourself a gold star. Maybe two of them.

Something I’ve always found fascinating is that when my dentist needs one of these tools, he often just extends his latex-gloved hand to his assistant, and because she’s paying careful attention, knowing exactly what the doctor needs, she gently slaps the correct tool into his grip. Spoken words are often unnecessary. 

Even though going to the dentist isn’t among my favorite activities, I have always appreciated the way these two professionals interact. Like a synchronized dance, they seamlessly move together with a wonderful sense of knowing.

(I am aware that surgeons and their nurses perform the same lovely waltz in the operating room, but I’m usually dozing on the table when this happens, so I don’t actually see it.)

Okay, another question. How well can you detect that the man in your life needs something? He may not actually reach out like the dentist—he likely will not—but you know. This man may be your husband, your grown son, your dad, another male relative, or a colleague. Like the dentist in our story, you know this man well enough to detect that there may be something missing in his life. Something he really needs right away: hope, encouragement, a touch, joy, instruction for life . . . a trusted friend to talk to.

He may be wandering, hurting, lonely, lost, and you’re more than eager to help. But like our dental assistant, you need tools.

Truth for the Moment

Many years ago, I began collecting stories, many from my own life, that illuminated a truth from the Bible. As I gathered these, I envisioned sitting down with another man, just him and me, telling a story, and then explaining how it could be connected to a principle from God’s Word. I did this in the glow of something Jesus would say when He was about to explain an eternal reality, using something very familiar, to his disciples. Like the dentist reaching out to his assistant, He gave them exactly what they needed at that moment.

I envision the Savior and his close friends, gathered around a fire, the twinkling sparks silently ascending into the night sky. Jesus leaned in and spoke, “The kingdom of God is like . . .” And then He’d talk about fishing or shepherding or seed-planting or crop-raising—something they knew about—connecting this common and memorable thing to an important eternal spiritual insight. The look on His friends’ faces would surely have let Him know that the story He had just told had connected.

Even though Jesus often spoke big truths to large crowds, my favorite image is this one: uninterrupted time with a handful of men He loved. Men with whom He did life. Men who knew and trusted Him. Men to whom He told stories and attached those stories to something familiar, unforgettable, and true.

I have put these stories—two-hundred-sixty short “Insight for the Day” articles—into a single volume for men, the CSB Men’s Daily Bible. I’ve linked these pieces to a passage of Scripture they help illuminate. My dream is that guys would give me the privilege of opening God’s Word with them, reading a few verses, then doing what Jesus did when He said, “The kingdom of God is like . . .” I’m looking for a knowing frown, a smile, and maybe a quiet “aha” from the guy.

The first of these articles is on page six of the Men’s Daily Bible. It opens with the verse “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day” (Genesis 1:31).

Then I draw my friend, the reader, into a story called “Paying Attention” and underscore the importance of the phrase “God saw,” pointing fathers toward being “present” with their children. “God’s pattern was to create, to pay close attention, and to celebrate every day. A pretty good model to follow, don’t you think?”

In my mind’s eye, I’m seeing a guy reading this, and the next time he’s tempted to glance away or drop his eyes to his phone screen instead of into the face of his child, he’ll remember that the God of the universe, the Creator of everything, didn’t look away. His eyes did not dart. He chose to look and be present with His children. I can do this, the guy may whisper to himself.

Suddenly the creation account takes on new meaning. Personal meaning. Mission accomplished.

Another “Insight for the Day” is found later in the same book of Genesis (chapter 39). Drawing from Joseph’s near-miss encounter with a married woman, I tell my true story of sitting next to a beautiful lady on a flight to Washington. Here I was, like Joseph in Egypt, headed to a city where no one knew me. Given anticipated and dangerous autonomy, what was I to do with what looked like a golden opportunity to be unfaithful to my wife and two young daughters?

When you read this story, you’ll not detect any preaching about the certain perils of infidelity. There’s no microphone or pulpit or soapbox. You’ll only experience a quiet account of what could have been and the heart-racing opportunity to be unfaithful to my family.

I’m envisioning my friend reading this story in the Men’s Daily Bible, his eyes widening with what could have been. As he listens to my story, he realizes the way Joseph resisted temptation, determining that purity is worth it, dodging certain tragedy if he gives in to sinful longings. This is intended to be an inspiration for the next time my friend faces a big challenge to sin. Again, mission accomplished.

Through God’s Word, my reader-friend and I traverse the twists and turns of stories and doctrinal truth that we’re unpacking with “the kingdom of God is like . . .” The point is to help men lose what may be an overwhelming sense of intimidation of the Bible’s sheer heft, enhancing their understanding and applying biblical truth to their occupations, their families, their relationships, their thoughts, and their dreams.

Just to whet your appetite, titles of these insights range from, “Underwear on the Floor and the Sovereignty of God” (Isaiah 45), to “Throw away Those Crutches” (Acts 10), to “The Rotten Potatoes Always Win” (Titus 1).

Treasure Hunting

During the time I was working on the notes for the Men’s Daily Bible, my wife Nancy was journaling through her own Bible. After five years and a total of 700,000 tiny, handwritten words etched in the margins, she concluded this remarkable adventure through the holy pages with this: “Let us treasure every word, every prophecy He has given us by His Spirit—read it, hear it, believe it, love it, live it, trust it, share it. Let us cherish and declare every Word in this precious book.”

Wow. A big, fat “amen” to Nancy’s words, right? I could not agree more. This is my hope for my friends using the Men’s Daily Bible.

By the way, also tucked into this Bible are short articles written by fifty smart men who are authors, pastors, theologians, good friends, or all the above. These guys have volunteered to add their wisdom to the notes you’ll read. You will love what they wrote. If your man is a curious sort, there’s also a pretty extensive Q&A section. Questions include: Does God want me to be afraid of Him? How did Samson’s hair give him strength? Why do we have to read the Old Testament . . . isn’t that outdated now? What did Jesus look like?

My prayer, my sincere hope, is that the experience of spending a year (or more) with a new buddy going through this special Bible will be rich. It’ll be just him and me, together peeling back the layers of history’s best-selling Book, finding ourselves more ready than we’ve ever been to face life now with courage, even a smile, and someday, our own eternity.

So, if you’re like that dental assistant reaching for the right tool to gently drop into your man’s hand, you’re welcome to stop searching. I believe this new Bible might just be it.