Understanding the Bible

When I was a new Christian, my sister (who had been saved before me) told me how to read the Bible. She said to start in the New Testament with the Gospel of John. Read it five times. Then read Romans two times. Then begin with Matthew and read it all.

She also told me how to get the most out of it. She said, “Read it until something stops you, a new thought, an idea that you understand, something fresh. Then write it in a journal. Also write what came to your mind while you were reading it.”

I followed her advice and still do. She didn’t explain it but both of us know that this way of reading is listening for the illumination that the Holy Spirit gives to His people. After going to Bible school and seminary, it still seems the best to figure out what God is saying. After fifty years of daily reading, He keeps opening my mind to new truth and giving me a deeper way of looking at truth He has already revealed.

This morning, I am again reminded of the importance of relying on the Holy Spirit when I read. If I don’t, I’m in danger of coming up with interpretations that are not what God intended. Peter says it this way:

And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:15–18)

Not only did Paul write things that are hard to understand, so did many others who penned the thoughts of God. Besides that, Peter’s words are also true concerning how the Bible is often interpreted by those who think they can figure it out ‘all by myself’ and wind up twisting the truth God intended into error. As Peter says, this is not only disastrous for them, but can lead others astray.

Spiritual growth happens through the grace of God. Grace is God’s unmerited favor. It is also revealing Jesus Christ in such a way that lives are changed. The more I know Him, the greater the changes. This growth is sometimes painful as He shows me what I am like without Him, but it is also an adventure that brings me closer to Him and brings glory to God.

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Thank You Jesus for the power of the Holy Spirit to reveal You, to reveal truth, to make hard-to-understand passages in Your Word understandable. Thank You also for the most amazing reality — there is no end to it. I’ve read through the Bible dozens of times and see new things each time. I read it every day and am amazed how You bring fresh thoughts to my mind that bless me and bring praise to my lips. You are astonishing. May I glorify You this day and always.

Today’s thankful list . . .

- the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit.

- the unfathomable depth of the Person and work of Jesus Christ.

- the hunger and excitement I feel each time I open the Book.

- safely getting out and home after winter’s first snowfall and terribly icy streets.

- a day of making charity quilts with like-minded seamstresses.

- hubby taking time to help me buy/load/unload and put away groceries.

- yummy carrot cake.