Greetings in Christ,
Have you ever looked at those multiple drawings of the same thing where you have to figure out what is wrong with one of them, or the ones where they have objects within the drawings? Some of them can be easy to pick out the discrepancies, but some you must look and look to find what you need to detect. You look to the point it all starts to run together. You take a step back and regroup to take another look. This time you begin to see what you missed the first time. The objects you wanted to see appear and it becomes clear where to find them.
We have been there at some time with other things. It may have been when we were trying to study for some exam. It seems the more you study the more confusing it becomes, the subject matter gets blurred, and it all runs together in your head. Frustration sets in and you’re studying takes you backwards in your attempt to digest and remember data. You must walk away from your studying and take another look at your methods of approach.
It is human nature to want to put a twist on what we see and interpret. We have our own filters in how we process information. There are times we process the information correctly, but then there are times we get it totally wrong. We are so far off base we are not even close to where our minds need to go. We have missed the picture completely.
Jesus faced a situation just like this in His time with the leaders of Israel. They were known as the leading scholars of God’s word. They had studied it and they knew it backwards and forwards. They could recite scripture after scripture with no error. They lived out all the laws daily, and even added to them when they felt it needed to be done, but they missed the whole picture in God’s word. They missed how to recognize Jesus in their studies.
I work with a man who does not have a positive outlook on life. He is not what you would call a church going person, and he even holds resentment against God because of his daughter’s medical issues. He recently stated the reason for the world’s fighting and wars are based on religion. Everyone is trying to kill everyone over religion. I had to remind him it is the interpretation of religion by man which has caused the fighting amongst mankind. His response was what is the difference?
He is right to some degree, but wrong in so many ways. The problem with studying God’s word it can become a religion. The study of the word can become a process by which people process their actions in a certain way, and if others do not conform, they are wrong. The leaders of Israel did not accept Jesus because He did not fit their way of thinking and study of the word. Jesus did not conform to their way of thinking of religion.
I am not advocating stopping studying the word, but rather let it move from the mind to the heart. We can study the word so long it becomes just words in our minds, but when we let move down a foot or so into our hearts it stops being religion and it becomes a relationship. My co-worker has it right to the point the fighting it is about religion, but he overlooks the fact it can be more than just religion, and he misses the intent of what religion really should be about.
There are times we need to take a step back from the word to let it sink into our hearts. We need to check in with the author and get an inside view of the intention of the word. Sometimes it takes letting God shine through His word before we get the whole picture. It moves from being religion to a relationship, and this is what God intended when He inspired His word to be written for mankind.
“O sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him. The Lord has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody. With trumpets and the sound of the horn shout joyfully before the King, the Lord. Let the sea roar and all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.” Psalm 98
Lord may we read Your word and apply it to our lives, and may it fortify our relationship with You. Amen
Blessings,