Read your Bible!
At Buckhead Church over the last couple of weeks... going into next week... Andy Stanley is taking us through a series that is really aimed at one ultimate goal... getting us to read our Bibles.
What? Christians opening up the book and reading their Bibles? No way!
But seriously. It makes sense. Sure, some things are difficult to understand (especially without a good base knowledge of ancient history), but we all read difficult material when we have a goal that requires it? So what's the big deal? We all want to understand for ourselves the faith we have... or if we're an honest skeptic, it makes sense to understand the thing that you say you have doubts about before you outright dismiss it. That makes sense, eh? (bringing out my inner Canadian)
Now... let me speak to the non-skeptics in the house :) - or at least those of us that have given our lives to Jesus.
Last week (or 8 days ago), Andy actually shared his list of things that happen when he gets out of the practice of being in the scriptures. He's a seminary-educated guy and probably knows more about the Bible than most of us reading this blog combined... so you'd probably think that he could mulligan a week, month, or two on devotion time in the scripture, but au' the contraire! Those of us that know God know that there's power in reading the Bible and meditating on it. And the same goes for uber-smart guys like Andy Stanley, Ed Young (both Jr. and Sr.), Billy Graham, you name it... For the record, I could make my own list from my own experience...
1. I tend to use others rather than love and give to others.
2. I get so focused on the urgent and the here-and-now and forget that this life is short in comparison to eternity.
3. I lose sight of the incredible value that God has bestowed on me.
4. I tend to look for satisfaction in stuff that doesn't last, rather than on the true anchor of my soul.
(and I'm sure I can think of others)
And I figure that if you're honest, you can think of a similar list... or this similar list is your expereince today because you aren't (yet) allowing God to speak into your life through the words that He has spoken to you through the ages.
........
Now, if that doesn't do anything for you. Then I challenge you to read it as literature and check out some of the stories that are told. The books of Samuel are a great starting point - you MAY be surprised at what you find in there. You could make a blockbuster movie out of some of these stories... almost guaranteed.
For example, there's a funny story about how David was hiding out from Saul (1 Samuel 24) in this cave with his little band of misfits... Saul was trying to kill David because he was jealous and extremely CRAZY. One day, Saul is coming by David's cave and has to do his business, in the biological sense... so he takes his 900 BC-era Charmin and his copy of Israeli Enquirer (OK.. that's probably not in there, but you get the jist) and David's crew sees him. He was probably on the throne for quite a while (I imagine that kosher food may constipate you? Hmmmmmm) because David's men had time to talk David into going up there and "killing" Saul, but instead Dave just cuts off a corner of his robe. David get back, feels really guilty about it, and after Saul left the cave comes out and tells Saul that he's sorry he cut off his robe and pleads with him that he's done nothing wrong. Crazy, huh? Ok.. But what's nuts is that Saul (who was fuming mad and ready to kill Dave), ends up apoligizing to Dave and just walks away... with his army... just like that.
Crazy story. If you think I'm joking, read it for yourself... except for the comments about kosher food, Charmin, and the IE. That probably wasn't true... my creative license.
That's one reason that I'm a convinced that the Bible is true and worth reading... no one can just make stuff like this up - and especially not put it in a book that's authoritative on our lives. Of course, I also think that God has a great sense of humor that we don't always get because we take things SO seriously sometimes, but that's also my $0.02.
ok... READ your Bible. :)
Hope you were entertained :) - and are picking it right now.
Have you opened it yet?
What r.u. waiting 4? :)
What? Christians opening up the book and reading their Bibles? No way!
But seriously. It makes sense. Sure, some things are difficult to understand (especially without a good base knowledge of ancient history), but we all read difficult material when we have a goal that requires it? So what's the big deal? We all want to understand for ourselves the faith we have... or if we're an honest skeptic, it makes sense to understand the thing that you say you have doubts about before you outright dismiss it. That makes sense, eh? (bringing out my inner Canadian)
Now... let me speak to the non-skeptics in the house :) - or at least those of us that have given our lives to Jesus.
Last week (or 8 days ago), Andy actually shared his list of things that happen when he gets out of the practice of being in the scriptures. He's a seminary-educated guy and probably knows more about the Bible than most of us reading this blog combined... so you'd probably think that he could mulligan a week, month, or two on devotion time in the scripture, but au' the contraire! Those of us that know God know that there's power in reading the Bible and meditating on it. And the same goes for uber-smart guys like Andy Stanley, Ed Young (both Jr. and Sr.), Billy Graham, you name it... For the record, I could make my own list from my own experience...
1. I tend to use others rather than love and give to others.
2. I get so focused on the urgent and the here-and-now and forget that this life is short in comparison to eternity.
3. I lose sight of the incredible value that God has bestowed on me.
4. I tend to look for satisfaction in stuff that doesn't last, rather than on the true anchor of my soul.
(and I'm sure I can think of others)
And I figure that if you're honest, you can think of a similar list... or this similar list is your expereince today because you aren't (yet) allowing God to speak into your life through the words that He has spoken to you through the ages.
........
Now, if that doesn't do anything for you. Then I challenge you to read it as literature and check out some of the stories that are told. The books of Samuel are a great starting point - you MAY be surprised at what you find in there. You could make a blockbuster movie out of some of these stories... almost guaranteed.
For example, there's a funny story about how David was hiding out from Saul (1 Samuel 24) in this cave with his little band of misfits... Saul was trying to kill David because he was jealous and extremely CRAZY. One day, Saul is coming by David's cave and has to do his business, in the biological sense... so he takes his 900 BC-era Charmin and his copy of Israeli Enquirer (OK.. that's probably not in there, but you get the jist) and David's crew sees him. He was probably on the throne for quite a while (I imagine that kosher food may constipate you? Hmmmmmm) because David's men had time to talk David into going up there and "killing" Saul, but instead Dave just cuts off a corner of his robe. David get back, feels really guilty about it, and after Saul left the cave comes out and tells Saul that he's sorry he cut off his robe and pleads with him that he's done nothing wrong. Crazy, huh? Ok.. But what's nuts is that Saul (who was fuming mad and ready to kill Dave), ends up apoligizing to Dave and just walks away... with his army... just like that.
Crazy story. If you think I'm joking, read it for yourself... except for the comments about kosher food, Charmin, and the IE. That probably wasn't true... my creative license.
That's one reason that I'm a convinced that the Bible is true and worth reading... no one can just make stuff like this up - and especially not put it in a book that's authoritative on our lives. Of course, I also think that God has a great sense of humor that we don't always get because we take things SO seriously sometimes, but that's also my $0.02.
ok... READ your Bible. :)
Hope you were entertained :) - and are picking it right now.
Have you opened it yet?
What r.u. waiting 4? :)
Comments