church at watershed

it all starts with prayer…this is one of the parts of reading the bible that i think most people neglect.  it is easy to just read the pages of scripture as if it is just some book.  i know that on the previous blog, i stated that we have to remember that the bible is a narrative of God demonstrating himself to humanity, but that does not mean that it is just some book.

Paul says in 2 timothy 3:16 says, “all scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. it straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right.”  inspired by God…as God has moved and worked in and through faithful men and women, he has specifically shown them different attributes about himself.  they have been able to look back across their lives and see his hand in every aspect of their lives.

the Holy Spirit always directs the lives of those who will follow him, no matter what.  if we can say that scripture was written from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by followers of Christ in the first century, then wouldn’t it make sense for him to give insight from the scriptures for the followers of Christ in the 21^st century?  answer…yes!  here’s the deal…when you spend time reading the scripture, ask the Holy Spirit to give you insight.

the watershed crew will tell you that i say all the time, “if we don’t pray, then nothing will happen.”  i say it again now because so many of us read the bible saying that we don’t understand anything, but we haven’t even taken the time to ask God to speak to us and direct us through his own word.  we want God to show up in our living room with the shekinah glory melting our eyes out of their sockets while the six winged creatures sing, “holy, holy, holy.”  we want him to speak audibly as we rant on are commute to work, “DO THIS. GO THERE.  MARRY HIM OR HER”(all in a deep booming radio caricature voice – because that is how God would speak audibly if he spoke audibly to you or me).  so we spend our time with God asking him to speak, when the bible might as well be words screaming off the page to demonstrate who God is.

so the next time you pick up your bible to read it, remember that it IS a narrative of the works of God in, through, and with humanity – so read it like a story, but don’t forget to pray and ask for insight from the same God who inspired the writing in the first place.