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Mystery #2: Scripture

    Laid before each of us is a Book. It’s given to us by our Master. Breathed into it are the divine secrets of the universe. Through it, He speaks to us. Woven into every page is our Creator’s revealed plan for our daily lives and our eternal destiny! 

    Yet for most of us, our daily Bible engagement is the length of time it takes to read a devotional while on the toilet. 

    By contrast, Early Church leaders (people like Ignatius, Phoebe, Polycarp, Clement, and Barnabas) vigorously spent time in the Scriptures, despite not living in a world of any conveniences. Listen to what they discovered, and let it inspire you:

    The Word of God is in your heart. The Word digs in this soil so that the spring may   gush out.

   —Origen (AD 185–254)

    You are reading? No. Your betrothed is talking to you! It is your betrothed, that is,  Christ, who is united with you. He tears you away from the solitude of the desert and brings you into his home, saying to you, “Enter into the joy of your Master.”

    —Jerome (AD 342–419)

    Listen carefully to me: procure books [of the Bible] that will be medicines for the soul. At least get a copy of the New Testament, the Apostle’s epistles, the Acts, the Gospels, for your constant teachers. If you encounter grief, dive into them as into a chest of medicines; take from them comfort for your trouble, whether it be loss, or death, or bereavement over the loss of relations. Don’t simply dive into them. Swim in them. Keep them constantly in your mind. The cause of all evils is the failure to know the Scriptures well.

   —John Chrysostom (AD 347–407)

    “Okay,” the modern believer asks. “But where would I find the time?” 

    Yes, God knows we are busy. But he also commands us to study the Bible. So consider this possibility: perhaps the Creator of the entire universe reorients your day in real time to fit it all in! Possible?

    Look at Joshua 1:8: “The Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night.” The verse concludes with a fascinating—and paradoxical—cause-and-effect: “For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” 

    Is it possible that when we daily infuse ourselves in the Bible, there is a new force at work in our lives? The Early Church thought so. 

    Dallas Willard concurs in The Divine Conspiracy, “The heavens progressively open to us as our character and understanding are increasingly attuned to the realities of God’s rule from the heavens.” Right here, right now, make a commitment to reading more Scripture, and just see if God doesn’t honor your sacrifice in mysterious and extraordinary ways.

    If surrender is the key to the lock, then consistent Scripture reading is the mystery that pushes open the ancient rusted gate.

PRAYER: For too long, Lord, I’ve used the excuse of “I’m busy” to justify my unwillingness to do as you command when it comes to reading your Word. I’m sorry and seek your forgiveness for my ignorance and arrogance. Lord, I come now, ready and willing to commit my time and energy to You. Please honor my sacrifice. And may the studying of your Scripture transform from something I obligingly have to do into something I enthusiastically want to do. Amen.