Mediocrity
Recently I came to a realisation that my faith was feeling very mediocre. I was reading a lot of secular (and interesting) blogs, spending time on secular (and interesting) forum boards, and thinking about how things influence the outworking of my faith. Which is fine. Except it's become not-fine
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Right, ok, now that's done... I've stopped reading the bible regularly/daily, and I've stopped aiming to for a while too. This started from a conversation of realising how recently, historically, we've had the bible available for everyone to read - and it's still only 20% of the world that has that. But it's ridiculous to say that all those other people through time and round the world weren't Christians/weren't "proper" Christians etc. God is perfectly capable of speaking to those people in numerous other ways, and are we perhaps missing something of these other ways in our determination to read the bible every day? The bible is a tool to help us draw near to God, not much more, nothing less. So, if the tool is not doing it's job, stop using it. Nowhere does it say we have to.
So, if you put the bible aside for a while and just concentrate on having actual meetings with the Spirit of God, you will probably experience Him in ways you haven't for a while that will be like that breath of fresh air.
But it doesn't stop there. If you're doing this regularly (and it's BETTER than reading the bible!), and you invite the Spirit of God to come and He comes, and THEN you pick up bible and read it, just when you feel like it to start with, the words will transform because the Spirit of God is already there :-) Much more likely to take it in, for one thing, and for it to be meaningful, for another. Afterall, your relationship is with God Himself and not just with the bible!
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When I read the Bible, God works faithfully through the words to reveal himself to me. God isn't something I encounter separate from Scripture, but through Scripture. It is not better than reading the Bible, because the Bible shapes and transforms how we encounter God and tells us who God is. We worship in Spirit and in truth; not just in Spirit.
When people have become Christians without the Bible, they are given the name of Jesus to worship, not the Spirit. Christ lives in us, we are to worship him. The Bible reveals Jesus to us. All Scripture is God breathed and there for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training. The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double edged sword.
Thanks for the help, Katie. But given the words you've used, I disagree theologically with them based on what Scripture says. In fact, Katie, I'm kinda concerned about the angle you've taken on this. Please don't disregard Scripture because it hasn't been working for you yet. Ask God to make it work for you. Build a habit of reading a couple of times a week. Please don't use logic to ridicule God's working. Yeah, not many people have the Bible, but when Jesus was first raised from the dead, he didn't say "oh that's ok, I'll reveal myself to everyone else without your help". He said "go and make disciples of all nations". He also said that there won't be many who find themselves in Heaven, and everyone has the testimony of God's invisible qualities available to them to know about God. Yet most people don't worship God.
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