"You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." (John 5:39-40)
These verses bring to mind the common misconception among readers of the Bible that the Old and New Testaments tell two very different tales about God. It's almost as if God has dual identity (or multiple personality) disorder - there's the wrathful God in the Old Testament, the loving God in the New Testament, and seemingly little reconciliation between the two. I fully admit that this is how I approached the Bible as a newcomer to the faith. Like a lot folks out there, I disregarded the Old Testament and focused all of my reading on the New. After all, Jesus is what it's all about, right? Can anyone else relate? It was not until much further along in my faith journey that it occurred to me that the entire Bible is about Jesus.
I am far from being the most knowledgeable person in the room when it comes to the Scriptures. As I endeavor to learn more about God by spending time in His Word, I delight in the things I discover and enjoy sharing those discoveries with other believers. But every once in a while, I find myself bragging about what I know (or think I know), talking about God's Word irreverently as if it's a trivia game in which I must demonstrate how intelligent I am. Surely God must favor one so studious!
When I read the above verses from John the other night, they fell on me as they never had before. (I love when God does this, even if it's to convict me). What they told me is that authentic faith does not come from diligently studying the Scriptures. It comes from being in relationship with Christ. Reading the Scriptures can lead someone to accept Christ, and it can deepen and nurture one's faith in Christ. But true faith comes from having a living, dynamic relationship with the Bible's protagonist. It occurred to me that when someone engages in a game of academic one-upmanship with God's Word, it might be because he or she is compensating for a lack of relationship. I stand convicted of this in my life.
The Bible - all of it - is our blueprint for life, a gift God has given us to understand Him as best we can. But unless we allow the Word to come alive in our hearts through a purposeful, committed relationship with our Savior, then the Word will remain...well, words. We should all delight in the riches that the Scriptures offer, but let's never forget that faith is about so much more than words.
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