Lessons: Reading the Bible 1

Years back I managed to read all of the smaller books of the bible so that, with at least some honesty, I could say that I’ve read half the Bible to anyone who asked, or anyone who didn’t. With a highlighter in one hand and its lid nowhere to be seen I quick scanned pages from Ruth to Jude for anything I could make fluorescent so that others would see my spiritual greatness when I took my Bible to church. Like many at that age I didn’t really have a clue about where the books originated or the context in which they were written.

If a child or friend were to ask you if the Bible was really the best God could do for conveying his message to the present world what would your response be? Imagine they turn to a part in Chronicles and read part of a genealogy. Where’s the instant fix or the great epiphany? Utter rubbish; let’s be honest there are more answers about happy lifestyles found in any sub-pound magazine on any newsagents’ middle shelf.

Truth is the Bible isn’t really a handbook or manual for life as many say. It’s so much more. It’s history. It is truth put down on paper; people getting it wrong, people getting it right, laws, punishments and stories; characters going through changes, on journeys and hardships, characters like me. Best of all the promises that were true then are true still; but we ourselves must also ask the difficult questions that were asked then. How could I share in their joy if I don’t myself know the very thing in which they placed their hope?

But back to my original question, “Is the bible really the best God could do for conveying his message to the present world?”. For me, most defiantly, yes. I just, in some way, wish it was put to a feature length sound track so that I could listen to it constantly. For my friends, probably, no. The Bible is just God’s story, because of its history it gives perspective to the greatness of God and His plan, but the best thing about the stories of the bible is that we are its next chapter. Just as a music group call themselves the 29th Chapter (of Acts) we are part of the same story.

If we know the Bible we can live the Bible. If we live the Bible amongst friends who are without faith and without hope they will, even against their wills, be reading the life and way of the Gospels in the way we ourselves live. Not only that but they will see the joy and hope, all the encouragements that come with it. Be an open, living Bible to your friends; that they may learn the lessons you learnt and share in the promises that you have without even turning a page.

This then is my struggle; to first know the Bible and then to live it. Many gave up sweat and blood for it to be in my hand just as many gave up sweat and blood to make the stories in it true and yet the hindrance comes not from war or persecution nor from the difficulty of keeping accurate history for over 2000 years, but from inexcusable excuses and an ever present lack of discipline. Still, the more I realise my duty to myself and my friends and all that is possible through learning the promises and the lessons in the Bible the easier these hurdles are to overcome.