Words of Life
Sometimes I amaze myself. Not in a "Wow, you're such an amazing person!" way, but in a "I can't believe you!" way (this is not a good thing). Let me explain...
Say I lived in a desert. I had food, drink and shelter and went about my life there, quite contented. Then one day, someone came to me with a goblet, filled to the brim with a liquid. The liquid was cool and clear and shimmering...like the "drinkable light" from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The person offered it to me and so I took a few sips. It tasted magnificent and alive and completely refreshed and revived me. But after several drinks, I gave the goblet back. The person offered it again to me to keep, as my own, forever. He said that I could drink from it as much as I wanted to and it would never be empty. So I took the goblet, took another sip, and then put it aside and continued on with my life. Whenever I was thirsty, I wouldn't reach for the goblet of "drinkable light", but would just have a glass of ordinary water, which only quenched my thirst temporarily. Now...wouldn't you say that was just stupid?! Who in their right mind, when offered something so amazing, would only partake of it a little, and then set it aside? It's quite ridiculous! Yet I do that so often...with something much greater. The Word of God.
To be completely honest, in the past couple years it's been hard for me to read my Bible consistently. I used to be much more of a creature of habit than I am now, and as such, I used to read a chapter or so a day, but in the past couple years I stopped doing that. In a way, that was good because reading my Bible was just becoming something that I did out of obligation, which is not how it should be. For awhile, mostly while I was a Bible college, I didn't read my Bible outside of school work because it seemed to have grown old. I've read the Bible through several times and certain books more than that and it seemed boring. This was a wrong view to have, but I can at least understand then why I didn't read it...if I have a choice whether or not to read something and it bores me, I won't read it. It makes sense.
But what doesn't make sense to me is why I have a hard time reading the Bible consistently now. It no longer seems boring to me...when I do read it (or hear it sung), I feel refreshed and revived. Scripture, even when I read just bits, comforts and encourages me. So WHY don't I read it more?! It doesn't make sense! It's like I sat down before a huge feast, and knowing that I could eat and eat and eat of its delights, I sat there and nibbled on crackers! It's absurd!
This is not a "read your Bible, it's beneficial for you" post...I'm not a big fan of those. It's just musings on some of my dumb choices. It's not that I'm doing sinful things instead of reading the Bible...I'm not. In my free time, I usually just get busy and distracted by things like staying in touch with people, or reading. In and of themselves, these are good things...I believe that the Lord wants me to maintain my relationships with people and encourage them...and I believe that it's edifying to read other's views on spiritual things and life, etc. But to have that take up all my free time, when I KNOW there's something so much better is, frankly, just dumb.
I don't want to become legalistic about this...I've done that before and don't want to go back. And I don't at all think that I'll be "a better Christian" if I read my Bible more. But Scriptures ARE Words of Life...and thusly, partaking of them more and more can only bring life.
"But Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.'" ~John 6:68
Say I lived in a desert. I had food, drink and shelter and went about my life there, quite contented. Then one day, someone came to me with a goblet, filled to the brim with a liquid. The liquid was cool and clear and shimmering...like the "drinkable light" from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The person offered it to me and so I took a few sips. It tasted magnificent and alive and completely refreshed and revived me. But after several drinks, I gave the goblet back. The person offered it again to me to keep, as my own, forever. He said that I could drink from it as much as I wanted to and it would never be empty. So I took the goblet, took another sip, and then put it aside and continued on with my life. Whenever I was thirsty, I wouldn't reach for the goblet of "drinkable light", but would just have a glass of ordinary water, which only quenched my thirst temporarily. Now...wouldn't you say that was just stupid?! Who in their right mind, when offered something so amazing, would only partake of it a little, and then set it aside? It's quite ridiculous! Yet I do that so often...with something much greater. The Word of God.
To be completely honest, in the past couple years it's been hard for me to read my Bible consistently. I used to be much more of a creature of habit than I am now, and as such, I used to read a chapter or so a day, but in the past couple years I stopped doing that. In a way, that was good because reading my Bible was just becoming something that I did out of obligation, which is not how it should be. For awhile, mostly while I was a Bible college, I didn't read my Bible outside of school work because it seemed to have grown old. I've read the Bible through several times and certain books more than that and it seemed boring. This was a wrong view to have, but I can at least understand then why I didn't read it...if I have a choice whether or not to read something and it bores me, I won't read it. It makes sense.
But what doesn't make sense to me is why I have a hard time reading the Bible consistently now. It no longer seems boring to me...when I do read it (or hear it sung), I feel refreshed and revived. Scripture, even when I read just bits, comforts and encourages me. So WHY don't I read it more?! It doesn't make sense! It's like I sat down before a huge feast, and knowing that I could eat and eat and eat of its delights, I sat there and nibbled on crackers! It's absurd!
This is not a "read your Bible, it's beneficial for you" post...I'm not a big fan of those. It's just musings on some of my dumb choices. It's not that I'm doing sinful things instead of reading the Bible...I'm not. In my free time, I usually just get busy and distracted by things like staying in touch with people, or reading. In and of themselves, these are good things...I believe that the Lord wants me to maintain my relationships with people and encourage them...and I believe that it's edifying to read other's views on spiritual things and life, etc. But to have that take up all my free time, when I KNOW there's something so much better is, frankly, just dumb.
I don't want to become legalistic about this...I've done that before and don't want to go back. And I don't at all think that I'll be "a better Christian" if I read my Bible more. But Scriptures ARE Words of Life...and thusly, partaking of them more and more can only bring life.
"But Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.'" ~John 6:68