Issue #1,151 – Layers – May 10, 2023
This CGI-generated image of a foggy hillside clearly shows differing forest layers. Light, shadows, trees, hills, background and foreground all combine to give the impression of depth.
Unlike the image, real life is three-dimensional and comes with layers of light and darkness, life and death, routine and panic. The differing layers are what give life vibrancy.
When we get stuck in a routine and go through life more or less on autopilot, life can become dull and gray. It is an easy place to find ourselves stuck, all the while missing the effervescence of life itself. The light and life surround us, but we miss out.
The same can happen with our treatment of the Word of God. We can slide from the excitement of reading it down into a dull, dutiful habit or even total neglect.
Kathy works with children in the church, and the children who have heard the same Sunday school stories year after year are convinced they know everything about the Bible. They have slid from full colour to grayscale or even black and white.
I know many adults who have spent their entire life in the church but never read the Scriptures through fully or have read it once. They are convinced they have learned all the Word has to offer.
People can sit through a sermon on a passage or topic they have heard before and half listen. They are convinced that they have already mined all the layers of beauty and wisdom and tune out anything else. Their own mind keeps them from exploring new riches because they refuse to move onto another layer.
The Word of God is infinitely deep. It is often said to be simple enough for a child to understand, but it is also deep enough to fill us with new awe, wonder and revelation when we read it.
We can all have dry spells where reading the Bible can seem dull and dreary. When that happens, I encourage you not to give up. Pray for fresh eyes and to the Spirit to illuminate the truth for you. Try a different translation. Read the Word out loud. Listen to the Bible electronically. Change the spot or time when you do your reading.
Stand up and read. Read a different genre of Scripture; for example, if you get stuck in the genealogies, take a break, read a bit of the gospel, and then return. Go online and search for images of the setting for the text, put yourself in that setting and read afresh.
Skim read the Bible through for a refresher as to the big picture. Then reread it more slowly, keeping the big picture in the back of your brain. That prevents us from seeing the forest for the mist and the trees.
The tools to keep us mining the Scriptures are limited only by our imagination. The Bible was written so we might know God.
In the words of the Apostle John,
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:30-31
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:13
The Bible is more than words on paper; it is the inspired Word of God, written for our instruction.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
It is alive
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
Sometimes, precious nuggets of truth lie on the surface of the text, awaiting our eyes and minds to pick up on them. At other times, we might have to dig through some layers of familiarity or distraction to find them. At times they come quickly, and at other times take protracted study, but those God-given nuggets are always worth searching for.
There is life in those words. Hold fast and dig deep. It will enrich your life forever.
Be Blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
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All contents, “Gleanings From The Word” and “Experience an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Life,” are © 2001, 2023 K.F. “Kevin” Corbin Gleanings From The Word.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is from the English Standard Version (ESV).
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