Last week my oldest daughter Madison was in Vacation Bible School. One night after VBS, I was taking Madison home, and I looked in the rear view mirror and could see that she was deep in thought. As a Dad my heart started to lift. I began to think that Madison must have been contemplating the great truths she learned that day. After a few moments I decided to ask her what she was thinking about, just knowing it was going to be something great. However, I got a much different response than I imagined. Instead of thinking about the things of God, Madison told me that she was thinking about getting some cotton candy at the baseball game which we were going to that night! In many ways Madison missed some of the point of being in VBS all day.
Too often as Christians we also miss the point when it comes to the Scriptures. We reduce the Bible to a book that solely gives Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. We make the Bible to be a book that solely gives good moral and practical advice. When we reduce the Bible so that we are missing the point. While indeed there are instructions, morals, and advice found throughout the Bible it is soooo much more than just that. The Bible is the great book that reveals to us not only who we are but more importantly who God and his Son Jesus Christ are.
As you read through the Bible I encourage you to look and meditate on the different attributes of God you find as you read. Look for promises God has made to his people and follow how he fulfilled those promises. Look for the gospel, which is the good news we desperately need. As you read the Bible remember that it is consisted of 66 separate books, each book with an author who is writing to an original audience. Read the Bible as a book filled with books and not just filled with verses. I cringe when I hear how Christians open the Bible to some random place and read whatever is before them as part of their daily devotion time. Read through different books from beginning to end. Find out the context of the book and follow what the author is communicating. It is our job to understand how the original audience would have understood the book and how that would apply to them. After getting this understanding, apply what you read to your life. At times this takes work, but anything worthwhile always requires work. Follow the advice that Paul gave to Timothy to “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
The Bible is such an amazing book, let us not miss the point!