I have known and been exposed to the Bible my whole life. Growing up in what is referred to as “the Bible belt” and having parents that wanted to introduce me to the God they knew, it was kind of hard for it not to be in some way. I do not say this to be a bad thing. Having such steady access to the truth that is available in Scripture has proven to help me along the way. However, I have noticed a trend that has hurt me and tripped me up at certain moments in my life. I have found myself, at times, viewing the Bible as something it is not…or at least grossly understating all that it is.
The Bible is not just a strategy guide.
My friend, Lavelle, and I spent many years of our youth trying to figure out how to beat the newest video game. When all else failed, we would seek out a video game magazine with a strategy guide in it that walked us through how to defeat that one boss we couldn’t seem to overcome. Sometimes we would get lost in one of the game’s large maps and were at a loss as to which way to go. Again, we’d look for the latest strategy guide, in hopes that it would show us what to do next.
I have found myself wanting to use the Bible in the same way. There have been times in which I did not know what to do, so I would pick up the Bible and randomly search for an answer. You know, the old “close your eyes and open it up to a random page” trick. Many times, I came up empty. Or, sometimes, I would be convinced I found an answer, only to be disappointed in the outcome of applying it. While full of truth and direction, it seems the Bible is not just a strategy guide with specific answers as to what to do in order to move on to the next stage.
The Bible is not just a rule book.
Wouldn’t it be easier if God would just tell us what to do all the time? I do not think I’m alone in occasionally feeling that way. However, when I treat the Bible like it’s just a book of rules to follow, I quickly find myself discouraged. I just cannot seem to do all the things I need to be doing. And I cannot seem to not do all the things I’m not supposed to do. It’s frustrating to live my life trying to follow the rules. Actually, it feels downright hopeless.
The Bible is God’s love letter to us.
Instead of simply viewing the Bible as a strategy guide, or a rule book, I believe there is much more to it. For one thing, it is full of accounts of real people, like you and me, who struggled in life. They were not perfect. They were far from it. Abraham lied and acted cowardly when he was afraid other men might find his wife attractive, so he would tell them she was his sister. David was into pornography in at least one point in his life, as he would go to the top of his palace and view women taking baths on their roofs. Moses acted out of his anger more than once, killing another person in one of his outbursts. The issues these guys and others in the Bible had are things we can connect with, if we are honest. It’s good to connect with others who are forthcoming about their shortcomings. It helps us to know we are not alone.
But then there are incredible stories about how God walks along beside these people, who are much like you and I. These men and women behave poorly, and even blatantly rebel against Him at times. However, God loves them anyway. In fact, He seems to go to great measures to free them from their troubles and give them what they really need. The craziest part of it is He does not require great life strategies or rule-following from them. Nope, He doesn’t demand that they “do better” or “quit doing that bad thing they keep doing all the time” before He offers His love to them. Instead, He freely invites them to trust Him and then embrace an actual relationship with Him. And He didn’t just say it, He proved this love. Christ came and vividly revealed the love this Father has for His children. One reason He did this was so that when we lose sight of how He feels about us, we can remember this great act of God that, once and for all, ended the bondage to sin and displayed a love that was more powerful and secure than anything we could imagine.
To treat this conglomeration of books as merely a strategy guide or book of rules is to vastly understate and overlook the much bigger picture. For one thing, we seem to have a thorough love letter in the 66 books we call the Bible.
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