Seeking and Discovering...part 2 

 

‘so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.’ 1 Corinthians 2:5

In my last blog, I wrote about reading the Bible and engaging with it to learn more about God. I mentioned that the Bible was not written in a way for us to read from cover to cover and then to be able to say, ‘I’ve read that now' and move on to something else to read! Not many of us would have the stamina and capacity to read it that way anyway but if like me, you approach the Bible in chunks and chapters, dotting around all over the place, it might be assuring to know that that is ok!

The Bible is a library of books and we are invited to linger in it for our entire lives. We might read the Psalms whilst curled up on a comfy cushion, or dig deep into a gospel at a desk surrounded by commentaries or we may just want to listen to letters to the early churches allowing the words to flow through us and speak to us. As we become familiar with the different books along our journey through life, they will speak to us in new and fresh ways. We rely on the Holy Spirit to be our guide and to help us experience the power in these books,  increasing our faith along with our trust and relationship with Jesus.

Each book of the Bible is packed with meaning and demonstrates the power of God and what He has done for us through His Son, Jesus. There is one continuous story being told throughout and a limitless amount that we can learn about God. But there are many obstacles that we need to navigate. We need the truth, like a key, to unlock the meaning of the words and open up our understanding of the texts.

One particular obstacle that many of us have as we approach scripture, is that it was written in another time and in another culture than the one we live in today. I have heard it said that the Bible is outdated and that its ancient text has little to do with our lives today! Such a tragic lack of understanding but I can see why people might think that at a first glance of the Bible and without a relationship with Jesus.

Our modern western culture is so different from the first-century eastern culture of Jesus in the Bible. On top of that, the culture of the Kingdom of God that Jesus is teaching us about is completely different from the culture He was living in and from the western culture, we are living in today!

Fortunately, there are many wonderful scholars and teachers that are well-equipped to share their enlightened understanding with us. One such person that has opened the scriptures to me in new ways is Father Nadim Nassar. His rich Christian heritage, and his experience of an upbringing in the same region where Jesus grew up as well as having lived in the west for over 20 years puts him in a unique position to help westerners with some of those cultural obstacles.

I can highly recommend his book as an excellent key to unlocking some of the true meanings in the scriptures and I'll finish with a quote from his book ‘The Culture of God’ which explains:

 ‘when we read the Bible we are invited to discover ‘the culture of God’ - the community of love that makes up the Trinity - and how it might transform our lives and our faith. But in order to do so we need to understand the culture of the Bible itself, as well as the particular culture that forms our own worldview. Ultimately it is Jesus who has direct access to the culture of God, and so we also need to understand Jesus within his first-century Levantine context.’     

Let’s pray: Thank you Jesus that you guide us by your Spirit to unlock the truth in the mysteries you came to reveal to us. Help us to continue to read the Bible and learn from your example in scripture to overcome the obstacles that hold us back. Amen