So. I think I mentioned here, the video I saw of Francis Chan where he challenged us to read Scripture....just to keep reading it over and over. He encouraged us to read the red lettered words of Jesus over and over and to let them sink deeply into our God-thirsty souls. And we will encounter the God-man in new ways.
Now Pastor Chan said that the whole endeavor will take us only a couple of hours. Well I've been doing it for about a week or more....and I'm only up to chapter 21 in Matthew!! I just can't swallow the words of Christ without chewing. And I'm sure that is ok and maybe even better. And yes, Y'shua leaves me with some questions. I don't want to misrepresent him or leave you more confused than you were when you started. But you WILL have questions when you read. I have a book, about 3" thick (hardcover) called "Hard Sayings of the Bible." Now I've looked in that book at times and the topic I was struggling with, was not even mentioned in the book. So if the ministers and doctors who wrote that book can come up with a book that size and in small print with questions of their own and still not cover all the questions that might be asked, you can be sure that when you sit down to read chunks of Scripture, you will come away with some confusion and hard to answer questions.
Now why is this? How can God leave such a complex inheritance to us, as confusing as it is to us, and expect us, not only to sufficiently comprehend the things we need to know --but also he tells us to discuss Scripture with our children every where we go? And what will we do when our 5 year old confounds us with a question we have no idea how to answer?
Well, here are my thoughts. Jesus spoke the majority of those red letter words to a bunch of 12 largely unschooled, maybe illiterate men--and yeah, they had even less of an idea about the meaning of what he told them, than even you and I have reading Y'shua's words centuries later. How could he have gotten his point through to them so deeply that later, when the Holy Spirit was given to them after Jesus ascended back to heaven...all his words came back to them only now, with 20/20 hindsight, things were making sense! Like Jesus spoke of the "sign of Jonah" which would be the sign that they were asking for to prove he was God. The disciples then knew that the three days and nights in the belly of the whale, paralleled the three days Jesus spent in the depths of the earth.
What is my point? When you start out as a baby (even if you are 85) reading the Bible, be assured that you will walk away with something to think about and some things will profoundly impact you. And a year later....when you read that same passage again...you will be delighted when the spiritual and mental lights come on and you will say "WOW! How did I not see this before?"
Our knowledge will grow as will our understanding. And I would encourage you, before you read ANY Scripture, thank God for it and then ask the Spirit to open your heart and mind to receive it and ask him to teach you.
And the best thing is that, the more you read Scripture the greater your vocabulary will be to comprehend the words God speaks to you, no matter where you are or what you are struggling with. Keep your eyes and heart open because it's a sure thing that he will speak one way or another...as long as you have ears to hear, eyes to see, and a heart that understands.
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