You’ve heard of the Swan Lake ballet but probably missed the Moose Lake Ballet. It’s not as graceful as the former, but it’s far more exciting.
The setting is a dark country road. The players are a moose, a frozen lake (actually a pond, but give me some room for artistic license on that point), a driver, and a car.
Some years ago, I was driving home from a friend’s house after dark. As I approached a bend in the road, a huge moose was hurrying across the lake headed in my direction.
At the same time I braked, the moose saw the car. The moose quickly applied its brakes but couldn’t maintain its balance on the ice. Its front legs buckled under him. The moose crashed onto its face with a loud grunt and slid on the ice face first.
With God’s protection, both driver and moose left the scene of a potentially very dangerous accident unharmed. After I got over the fright of the near miss, I could see the humor in the moose and his fall.
Moose are not the most graceful animals in the forest, but falling like that is ungraceful even for a moose.
Like the moose and his sudden stop, sometimes we can be far less than graceful. Sometimes, that’s a lack of physical grace; more often, it’s a lack of grace in our words. Our words can do tremendous damage.
It’s no wonder Scripture is full of admonitions about the tongue.
There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers. Proverbs 6:16-19 ESV
A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.Proverbs 15:4 ESV
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. James 1:26 ESV
How’s your tongue? As graceful as a charging moose on ice? Or does it bring forth wells of love, blessing, and life?
Until next time, may your tongue bring blessings, not curses.
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. Your value in God’s eyes is so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that his plan for heaven will not be complete without you.
The university library was massive. It had shelves of books on virtually every imaginable topic (and many that I had never conceived of) from every possible perspective. A person could read there for their entire lifetime and never even make a dent in the total number of books.
Fortunately, I was interested in reading only some of the topics. Some areas held no interest for me whatsoever, and I don’t even have the expertise to decipher or understand others. For example, I’ve never been able to grasp the fundamental concepts behind simple differential/integral calculus, so any book on that topic or any topic that uses that knowledge as a foundation would be beyond me.
The foreign language section would be beyond my grasp. I took some French in high school and university, but to be generous, it’s rusty. I can make out the occasional phrase in Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, and a handful of other languages. Still, I am not fluent in any of them. I can say I don’t “speak the language” in French, German, Italian, and Spanish.
I headed towards the seminary section of the library, looking for the topics I was interested in researching. Again, there was a bewildering array of books. For example, there were hundreds of biographies on Jesus (and I know they only have a sampling), some of which start with the belief that the Bible is true (as do I) and others that believe that there is no truth in the Bible at all. Theological perspectives from the extreme liberal to the middle of the road and onto the ultra-conservative were available on many topics.
The topic of God, the claims of Jesus, and the path to salvation are some of the most vital issues of all. It’s no wonder so many books have been written on these subjects.
Some people look at all those books and think, “Why should I read the Bible?” If the “experts” can’t agree, why should I even try? Some denominations or congregations even try to maintain control by encouraging this point of view.
The Bible is an incredible book. It contains truths that are so simple that a young child can understand them. It contains truths so vast that theologians have been arguing for thousands of years over the interpretations. If you are a believer, you have a built-in guide to help you understand the truth (Holy Spirit). No matter how much you read, you will never truly understand Scripture if you’re not a believer.
Yet, I know of many cases where people who weren’t believers but had open, honest, searching hearts asked God to reveal Himself to them when they read the Word, and He did.
I have thousands of hours of Bible reading and study under my belt. I have thousands of hours of readings commentaries, dictionaries and other books about the Bible. I still have only begun to tap into the wealth of knowledge the Bible contains. There is more wisdom and truth in the Bible than in all the books in the university library for the person who will earnestly seek it.
I’ll never know it all, but with a bit of reading, anyone can sit down and learn through the Bible that Jesus loves them and will save them if they only ask. The Bible will teach you what God is like and what He wants from us. It will teach you, rebuke you, correct you, and embrace you if you only open the covers and begin reading it.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.Proverbs 1:7 NIV
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV
Not sure where to begin reading your Bible? There are many plans available for daily Bible reading. Here’s one I recommend to people
Read Genesis – it will help you understand creation, sin and God’s lan for the world.
Read the Gospel of John through two or three times
Read the four gospels through twice. By this point you’ll have a good idea of who Jesus is.
Read the New Testament through twice. You’ll have a good basic knowledge.
Follow this by reading all of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.
Repeat…Repeat… Repeat
Reading twenty minutes daily will enable you to read through the Bible in a year. Reading a book a day will get you through cover to cover in 66 days.
Don’t worry that you don’t understand it all at once—no one does. You will find, though, that you gain new wisdom and insights every time you do.
The more time you spend in the Word, the more you will realize its importance and the more you will want to do it. Don’t be discouraged; it’s often hard to form new habits. If you slip, just pick yourself up again and keep on going.
Until next time, don’t be intimidated. Read the Bible. God had written a wonderful love letter to you within the pages of that book. He’s waiting for you to read it.
Kevin
Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. Your value in God’s eyes is so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that his plan for heaven will not be complete without you.
