Skip to main content

The Bible is like…

Over the years, people have often compared the Bible to a map or an instruction book, because it is something that gives you information and tells you how to get home.

While I understand that, I have two problems with those analogies. First, maps and instruction books are boring! You only use them when you are lost or in trouble and you do not use them every day. Secondly, the Bible never calls itself a “map” or an “instruction book”. It does, however, give us some other, much more useful, pictures.

1. The Bible is a Light. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105). Lights are powerful. They allow us to see and understand what is around us and, strangely enough, they give us courage!

My Grandparents used to live about four blocks from our house and the quickest way to get there was to cut through a cemetery. I was never scared of the cemetery in the daytime, but nighttime was a different story. The lack of light made the journey more difficult and much scarier.

2. The Bible is a story. Stories are inspiring and they touch us in ways that other things simply cannot. If you have ever cried during a movie, you know the power of a story.

After crossing the Jordan River on dry ground, the men are commanded to pick up twelve stones from the riverbed and make a monument out of them. Then God says, “In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord” (Joshua 4:6-7). It was important for God’s people to know and pass on the story of how God looked after them.

My point is that the Bible is not a boring, academic book that should only be referred to in times of trouble. Rather, it is a powerful, living, life changing story that gives us light, help and understanding (1 Peter 1:22-23; Hebrews 4:12-13).

If we change the way we think about the Bible, maybe we will read it differently.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Noticing.... Seeing what we need to see and what we miss when we don't

 What we focus on in life matters. Here are some scriptural reminders that will help us see correctly.  https://youtu.be/Rn76tV0ZH8s    
Post a Comment
Read more

New Article: A Path Worth Following

  Jehoram was a terrible king.  He reigned in Judah around the year 850 B.C. and he did not care about God or his people.  His first act as king was to assassinate his six brothers so that no one could challenge his authority.  He was brutal and selfish.   Therefore, when the Bible sums up his life, it says, “Jehoram… passed away, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David” (2 Chronicles 21:20).  Did you catch that?  “To no one’s regret!”  What a terrible phrase for your tombstone. On the other hand, consider a lady named Tabitha.  She lived in the city of Joppa in the first century A.D. and we are told, “… she was always doing good and helping the poor” (Acts 9:36).  She became sick and died.  This caused the community so much grief that they called Peter, who was in the nearby town of Lydda, to come and help them.  When Peter arrived, a crowd gathered, bringing all the robes and other clothing that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This.... Which Way Are You Leaning?

   When Ben Patterson agreed to join three friends climbing Mount Lyell, the highest point in Yosemite National Park, he did not realize what he was signing up for.  Early in the day, it became clear that he was completely unprepared for the task.  In an effort to keep up with his more experienced friends, Ben took a shortcut.  It did not occur to him that there might be a reason the others had not selected this route, but he soon found out why.  Ben became stuck on the glacier.  He could not move up, down or sideways and one wrong move would send him sliding down a forty-five-degree slope to the valley floor miles below.   That is when one of his friends came to the rescue. His buddy leaned over the edge and carved some footholds in the ice.  He told Ben to step to the first foothold and immediately swing his other foot to the second, then his buddy would pull him to safety.  Lastly, his friend gave him one more piece of advice....
Post a Comment
Read more