Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Attitude”
Our Bible verse for today: “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)
Our thought for today: ‘The Bible is alive.”
What attitude do you have about reading the Bible? Some people just read for mileage. They set a goal of how many chapters they will read each day and then they just plow through it. Other people pick and choose certain passages and stories, and then they skip anything that might be boring or too hard or too convicting. Some people don’t read the Bible much at all.
The writer of the letter to the Hebrews tells us that the written word of God is alive and active and that our reading of it should profoundly affect us. Is that how it seems to you, alive and active, profoundly impacting you?
In his book, “Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God”, Dallas Willard offers a helpful insight about how to read the Bible. First, Dallas reminds his readers that the people in the Bible were just people – no different really from you and me. And, if you or I had been them, if we had been where they were and experienced what they did, we probably would have reacted much the same way they did. Here’s how he explained it:
“… if we are to really understand the Bible record, we must enter into our study of it on the assumption that the experiences recorded there are basically of the same type as ours would have been if we had been there. Those who lived through those experiences felt very much as we would have if we had been in their place.”
Bingo! There’s the key to the Bible coming alive for you. Enter into the story as if it is your story. You be them. Put yourself in their place and do it with the understanding that this person on the pages of the Bible was a person very much like you. Therefore they would have experienced this situation much the same as you would have if you had been them.
Now live the story. See yourself in Peter’s place that night in the courtyard as Jesus was on trial. It’s dark, you’re cold, you’re scared, and you’re worried about your friend Jesus. Suddenly the people around you are questioning you, accusing you, and your fear escalates. They might arrest you. They might beat you. They might crucify you. They want to know if you are one of Jesus’ followers. Quick, what will you say? In his fear and confusion and uncertainty Peter denied that he even knew Jesus. Isn’t it possible that under those same circumstances you would have denied Him too?
Is that how you read your Bible? What attitude do you bring with you when you sit down to read it? I encourage you to slow down and intentionally enter into the story you are reading. Be there. Be part of it. Make it your story. And then experience the Bible as you never have before.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 