So this one time I was reading my Bible.  I was treating it like any other book, finishing a chapter just so I could say I read it, and even trying to find some of its meaning.  Actually, it happens a lot.  I feel unaccomplished when I have any kind of reading on my to-do list, and my goal is often just to cross it off of that list.

Wait, what?  I find my fulfillment in striking a line through some words on a squished, bleached piece of tree?  That’s lame.

We can’t treat the Bible like any other book.  In fact, compared to the Bible, other books would be a pet rock.  Other books may have some truth and comfort.  They can be big or small or look ugly or pretty.  If your book is a pet geode, you might even find some jewels inside it.  But the Bible is the only book that’s alive.  It’s living.  And it’s better than any rock, precious or not.

Rock of Ages

If other books were like a pet rock, the Bible would be… like… a stallion.  It’s big and intimidating at first.  You have to attend to it slowly, devoting yourself to it daily, or else it will just stay intimidating.  You can’t neglect it.  You can’t abuse it or just use it to make yourself feel better.  You can’t just spend time on the fun parts and neglect other necessary parts of it.  But when it becomes a part of your life, it will captivate your heart, and it will carry you places you never could have gone on your own.  It’s difficult, and sometimes it can be tedious.  But it’s alive.  It’s active.  It will change your life.

Sometimes, I see my Bible like a pet rock.  It sits around and looks pretty.  I color it with a marker.  I talk about it sometimes, but I’m a little embarrassed.  It’s probably been around for a long time.  Um, it doesn’t move much.   It’s not dead, but it’s certainly not alive.

Somehow, I know the Bible was supposed to be more than that.  And I know that, in order for it to be living and active, I need to commit myself to spending time in it.  No, the Bible won’t starve if I don’t attend to it, and it won’t die when it gets old.  But it can starve my own heart.  And then my spirit begins to go hungry.  I can just feel it.  …Can you?

When I open up the gate, I realize how strong and majestic the stallion can be.  When I expect it to be boring, it will be, because it will be stuck inside and it will just sit there and make funny noises.  When I expect it to be powerful, I give it room to kick. And then I see it already in motion all over my world and in my heart and my town and even my own house.  There’s no limit to its power, except maybe the extent of my own belief that it does what Jesus says it does.

So what does Jesus say the Bible is?  His analogy is a little different:

“God’s word is alive and working and is sharper than a double-edged sword. It cuts all the way into us, where the soul and the spirit are joined, to the center of our joints and bones. And it judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts. Nothing in all the world can be hidden from God. Everything is clear and lies open before him, and to him we must explain the way we have lived.”  ~Hebrews 4:12-13 (NCV)

The words are powerful and true.  Are arguments and behaviors and lifestyles contrary to its teachings are shot down and end in shambles.  The words have the last say in my life, and in the world everyone lives in, whether we like it or not. (Some things I like, some things I don’t, but I don’t get to pick and choose a world for myself, because I didn’t design the world.)

No political rhetoric, scientific research, or philosophical argument can even come close to its power, justice, and authority.  Its principles have been tested for four thousand years.  There’s not a single contradiction in this book, which was written by dozens of authors from different cultures (including some predominantly polytheistic, secular, imperial cultist, and atheistic ones) and historical eras (including the most powerful regimes known to man).

Some people think it just came from someone’s imagination.  They would be right.   This book comes straight from the mind of God.  It’s the bestselling book of all time, and He didn’t even have to make the story up or exaggerate things.  And since God created the human imagination, this book makes every other book unoriginal.

But more importantly than all of these things, it’s alive.  It’s alive in my life.  It means something to me.  In fact, it was written to me.  Some people I know who are crazy about its author say it’s God’s love letter written to the world.  I would agree.  It’s my source of life, and without its direction, I wander, and I’m selfish, and I’m helpless, and I hurt.  It can be rough or boring or pretty much ruin my life because I realize how much I’m the opposite of God… but I love it.

When I have it as the core of my worldview, everything makes sense.  I can bring the pieces of my life before God — emotions and thoughts and ideas and desires — and the Bible is His instructions for putting it together.  He and I read them together, and we create things together, and it’s kind of fun.  When I let my Father comfort me through the Word, I feel protected.  I’m held, just held, in the arms of God’s wisdom and truth.  I can have confidence.  I can make a difference.  I can be myself, and for once I actually know who “myself” is.

God wrote the Bible just for you.  No matter what’s going on in your life, there’s a section of the letter in there that will resonate with your heart strings and even shake up your mind a little.  Don’t underestimate the Word of the Almighty God — the one who made the world, the one who made your heart, the one who calls you by name, the one who believes in you.  Your Author’s words have traveled together through human history and a couple different languages and a bunch of continents just to reach your fantastically designed hands.  And it’s the medium through which your Father in Heaven chose to speak to you the most directly.   So sit tight, quiet your soul, and have a listen.