Sometimes, you can’t write. It’s unfortunate. Sorry guys, it’s been a while, but picking up where I left off. . .

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Whether or not I’m writing a lot, I shamelessly self-promote my blog. I love it, and I love the people that I happily refer to as my readers and friends. I enjoy it because I feel like a good response to my blog is a good word about me. Thoughts take form as words which show up on paper, in speech, and online to express who we are. Any writer knows that their writing is a part of them. If you like yourself and hold your words with any esteem whatsoever, promotion of your writing stands out as the obvious action to take.

Jesus quoted a lot of scripture. He used it to get the devil out of his hair (Matt 4:1-11), to get religious people to shut up (Matt 10:34-36), and as He hung on the cross (John 15:34). Jesus cared greatly about the Word, which greatly implies that we should hold it as supreme in importance, as well.

Jesus has a way of shocking us with truth. He takes what we think and switches it on its head and makes some of the more inflexible people topple or at least bend in ways they didn’t believe they could (never a pleasant experience). I’m pretty sure He did this with almost everything. I don’t think any of it was overt by any stretch and that’s why people in His time had a hard time with him. I’m not convinced that has changed much.

I’ve been stuck on one verse for over a month now, trying to figure out how it applies to me today. John 5: 39-40 says,

You have your heads in your Bibles constantly
because you think you’ll find eternal life there.
But you miss the forest for the trees.
These Scriptures are all about me!
And here I am, standing right before you,
and you aren’t willing to receive from me the life you say you want.

He was correcting some Jewish leaders about their take on the law. They were upset with Him for healing a man and telling him to carry his bedroll home on the sabbath. They didn’t understand the purpose behind “practicing” a sabbath. They had read of slavery in Egypt, and knew of Yahweh’s deliverance from that awful place. Pharisees probably even could tell you that the Israelites worked seven days a week, never having the allowance of time off. Taking one day a week served to remind them of how good they had it in the freedom that God gave them.

What makes me squirm a little is the notion of having my head buried in my Bible missing the forest for the trees. God’s word is infallible and provides every life-insight we’ll probably ever need, but regardless, Jesus explains that we can read it and miss the point.

He explained that the people had studied God’s Word for the wrong reason, to try to earn eternal life through meticulous rule-keeping. He offered a way that worked better for them, but because so many of them had read with wrong intentions, they missed it.

To make this relevant to us, we need to understand that the Law (Old Testament) was the Bible of their time. Considering the Old Testaent, Jesus is that word, too. He is Genesis, revelation, and everything in-between! That’s right, Jesus Christ is every word that composes the law that we don’t necessarily value (anymore). But if that was their Bible (Torah) of their day, how much can we read His Word (New and Old Testaments) for the wrong reason?

Figure out your purpose in reading the Bible. Is it so you can quote scripture at bad kids who use four-letter words? Is it to placate your conscience and feel like you’re a good person? Bible-reading doesn’t do that for me. . . But know why you read, and ask yourself, “Is this the point that God would have intended?”

Hopefully, it’ll help you read differently.
It did me.