This is a quote from a friend's blog, "More Cows," a pastor in a very rural area, that I liked and wanted to share with you. They are from a guy who has just started reading the bible recently:
"Further, he shared last week that he had heard some radio evangelist saying that you can't get anything out of the Bible unless you have the Holy Spirit. So he wondered if all the times he didn't get anything out of the Bible if it was because he hadn't had the Holy Spirit. The evangelist said something like "Without the Holy Spirit, reading the Bible is like chewing on bark, but never getting to the wood."
It's hard to read the Bible. I've been amazed, recently, preaching, how much I've had to wrestle with these holy words to find something that seemed like God speaking to me. Maybe I need more of the Holy Spirit. But the evangelist is so right, the Bible isn't magical -- you can't just open it and find beautiful answers to all of life's inpenetrable questions. It IS like chewing on bark. (Although chewing on wood doesn't sound much better, in my opinion.) Maybe it's more like trying to eat a banana with the peel still on? (yuck). Or chewing on wood and never seeing the fruit on the tree? That's better!
I love the bible. But I find it hard to read. Reading Thomas Merton or Jane Austen or wikipedia is often more clear and inspiring. But maybe it's better that God's Word is something tough to chew on, painful sometimes, violent, unpleasant, confusing, and contradictory. That's life, after all.
It can be a sweet endeavor too!
ReplyDeleteEzekiel 3:1-3 = He said to me, O mortal, eat what is offered to you; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel. 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. 3 He said to me, Mortal, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it. Then I ate it; and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey.
Thanks for that reminder, Adam! It's not all bark, is it?
ReplyDeletei often think about you declaring once upon a time in a small town in ohio that "the Bible is NOT literature".
ReplyDeletei thought of this just recently, in fact.
you might have gone on to say "if it is, it is bad literature." but maybe i'm just making that up.
sometimes i find it hard to read scripture, but... when i'm really reading, studying, it is usually very rewarding. that doesn't always mean i'm clear about what to preach...