It Is Written
I like to read. I am pretty sure reading is a vast conduit to being smarter. Most of the words I know came from a book somewhere. So do most of the ideas, lessons, practices, and philosophies I own. Some books I read one time while others I go back to frequently. I love reading the Old Testament. Jesus [apparently] liked to read the Old Testament, too. During His temptation in the wilderness, Jesus quoted three times from the book of Deuteronomy, which just happens to be where I was recently challenged to read. He prefaced each retort by saying, “It is written…”
In our world, we are used to books. There are close to 300,000 books published in the US each year — that’s 300,000 different books published — who knows how many millions of copies? I am sure it is safe to say that much of that which is printed is junk. Thanks to the printing press and the enabling of pretty much anyone to write a book, we have a massive onslaught of information via the printed word. And if we add in the Internet, we augment the amount of junk available exponentially. But in the time of Jesus, only the supremely important was written down. All ancient cultures actively participated in storytelling and oral tradition to convey information. For something to be written was a big deal.
We take it for granted, though, that most of our information comes to us either in print or online. We have information coming at us via texts on cell phones and status updates on Twitter or Facebook. It is becoming so dynamic for us to receive information and I ponder where the Bible sits in all of this. We have the Bible in print; we have it online; we even have it read and taught to us. But is it just another book? Is it just another source of information?
I truly hope that the Bible — and the knowledge of God — is not simply competing with the rest of the noise we are constantly dealing with. I hope that the Bible holds a supremely important place in our lives. This is how I try to retain that importance with God’s Word:
- First, I read God’s Word intentionally. Opening up the Bible is not a pasttime nor something to do while I am bored. It is an intentional engagement of that which is important.
- Second, I read God’s Word expectantly. I claim to know God; I claim that His Word is how He speaks to me. So when I read, I expect to hear from Him.
- Third, I read God’s Word regularly. If I really believe the Bible is God’s Word, then it seems logical that I would spend as much time in it as possible.
May we not lose track of what the Bible truly is. It is not just a book. It is a collection of the most important words ever put down on paper.
word.