pWe’ve all experienced that moment: when you look at the Bible’s words, assume they must mean something, but you have no idea what. Sometimes, the meaning just doesn’t compute. So does that mean you’re not a proper Christian? That you don’t know God well enough? That you’re just outright-not-smart? Not at all. In places, the Bible is a hard book to read, full of history and context that isn’t always easy for our 2016-Western minds to get.br /
So. Forget the guilt, let’s take practical action. If you have a group of friends that you feel comfortable around, why not start a regular Bible study together? If there’s a particular elder at your church that you feel is approachable, why not ask if they could be your mentor? Understanding what God might be trying to say to us through His Word should be pretty high on our priority list. ‘Take care lest your heart be deceived...’ (Deuteronomy 11:16 ESV). That’s God’s warning to us that if we don’t care to put Him first, then we’re asking for trouble. The solution? ‘Therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul’ (Deuteronomy 11:18 ESV). It takes courage. But when we put in the extra effort to understand and trust what God is saying to us, then we’ll really start to see the Bible change our lives./p
pWhat now?br /
That’s a lot of ‘to-dos’ in today’s reading. So for now, just rest in this: 1 Corinthians 2:6-16. You can know that if you’re a Christian, you’ve got the Spirit’s help when reading./p