“Take Up and Read!”
I’ve always enjoyed reading, and so from my earliest years as a Christian, I read. Although I thankfully did read a few good, sound authors early on (most notably Francis Schaeffer and C.S. Lewis), I also read many books and articles by less helpful writers and teachers. I read all these books because I wanted to know more about God. But there was one book that I neglected much of the time…it was the only book that really had the answers I claimed to want. And of course I’m talking about the Bible.
Why do we often find God’s word to be the last book we pick up to learn about God? It would be ironic if it weren’t so tragic. The books I read over the course of my first 30 years as a Christian led me, too many times, away from a true knowledge of Him. Those books used misdirecting language so that when I did read the Bible, the truth about God was distorted. My perception of Him was faulty because I read the wrong books.
The amazing thing is this, that God has chosen to reveal Himself through a book, through words that are His words. There is no other way we’ve been given to find out who God is, what He is really like, and what He requires of us. Creation testifies that there is a God; the Bible explains Him to us. Words matter and the accuracy of the words matter, because an accurate knowledge of God really matters.
Knowing God as He really is makes a difference in our homes and in the church. Life and death may quite literally hang on whether our knowledge of God is a true knowledge. Based on our perceived knowledge of Him, we will make choices about how we train our children and treat our husbands and flee temptations. These are day-to-day choices with eternal ramifications.
Not to overkill the point here. There are many good books, helpful books, books that direct us to the truth of Scripture. They help us in our understanding of God and of His word. But there is no substitute for the Bible itself. The Holy Spirit works in and through God’s word to bring truth and life to us, to cleanse us and sanctify us, and to reveal God to us in Jesus Christ. We should saturate ourselves in the words of the Bible, allowing them by the Spirit to take up rich residence in our hearts until an overflow of the Spirit and the word result in a blessing to our families and to the people of God, and to the world.
When Augustine, who became the great 4th century theologian, was sitting under a tree in despair over ever knowing the truth about God, he heard the voice of a child from a nearby house saying in a sing-song voice, “Take up and read!” He did so, picking up his copy of the Scriptures and turning to Romans 13, and that moment “the light of confidence flooded into my heart and all the darkness of doubt was dispelled.”
So I encourage you today, “take up and read!” If you “aren’t a reader” you can certainly, with God’s help, become one, for He has words for you to know! Or perhaps you can become an avid listener (here is a very good audio Bible.) The point is to go often to the life-giving source, to the very words of God, and drink deep!
March 26th, 2008 at 23:53
I read that quote about Augustine somewhere else and it was referring to him overcoming the sin of lust…it was an interesting story.
Thanks for the reading advice. I need to be better about that…it’s not for a lack of books, just a lack of time to devote to them.
The kids and I have recently discovered audio books and will listen to those frequently in the car….I don’t think “The Box Car Mysteries” is what you are referring to though ;)
March 28th, 2008 at 14:31
Augustine was a pretty interesting character. I’ve been taking an early Christian history class and he is one of the characters we’ve recently studied. What I find really interesting was his original confession… I hope I quote this correctly… “God, give me chastity, but not yet”. He knew for a long time that God wanted him to surrender, but he was stubborn and selfish about it…. and to Missy’s point, yes, he was a bit lustful. You can’t run from God’s truth, though. More importantly, you can’t be ambivalent about it. You must either accept it wholly or reject it outright. Augustine knew the truth, didn’t reject it, but selfishly didn’t want to accept it either. That is an untenable position to be in. He was utterly and completely miserable until he surrendered to it (wow, I feel like I’m preaching a sermon… sorry)… Anyway, it is an important lesson for to remember. Knowing the truth but not embracing it can only make us unhappy. The truth will set us free, but we must accept it completely in order for it to do so.