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It is faithless, cowardly, common reading that comes to Scripture ready for nothing.
I& #39;ve often read it in such a manner, but mercy has met me there anyway. Thanks be to God.
I& #39;ve often read it in such a manner, but mercy has met me there anyway. Thanks be to God.
I reflect back on my first youthful encounters with Scripture---I had no clue what this book was or from Whom it was. I thought I was reading Shakespeare or a spell book.
I was not ready for the "magic" that was present in its pages. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation--certainly!--and when the gospel was proclaimed to me from the text of Scripture, I was placed in the field of God& #39;s power for salvation.
That power unto salvation -- it came over me, it overcame me.
Not like lightning, but like dawn.
I was en-light-ened, and continue to be, more and more unto the perfect day.
Not like lightning, but like dawn.
I was en-light-ened, and continue to be, more and more unto the perfect day.
and YET--still I (and maybe you) do often hear Scripture with a lazy hope that I could just roll through it like a car wash and receive strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow---no trouble, no transformation.
If you want to remain lord over your life, supreme judge of truth and justice, final arbiter of reality and morality---
If you want to remain unchallenged and unchanged, the Bible is not the book for you.
If you want to remain unchallenged and unchanged, the Bible is not the book for you.
I& #39;m teaching Rom 9-11 this week to college students and I want them to know that, even beyond the role of Israel in salvation history, the bigger lesson is here: Take this book seriously enough to get offended, and take this God seriously enough to listen and learn. Be teachable.
To light a candle, you often first have to cut the wick.
