Better Than Hunting and Fishing and Apple Pie

Better Than Hunting and Fishing and Apple Pie

One of the great joys of life is plumbing the depths of God’s Word.  It’s fantastic.  This might seem strange to some – maybe even peculiar.  You might think this is but my private thing.  After all, I am a pastor and the Bible is a major part of what I do.  It’s expected that I would love and enjoy it in a way that perhaps others would not.  One man loves hunting, another football or golf – I get my kicks out of reading a book – or so they say.

If that’s your view, you’ve missed my point.  I am talking about TRUTH – truth that inspires and transforms – truth that unlocks doors and shines light.  Truth that is beauty – similar to the most brilliant sunset you’ve ever seen – not just for preachers but for everyman.  It is like the night sky with a million stars gazing upon you while fireflies circle your feet.  Truth is the Grand Canyon.  Truth that is God’s Word revealed and applied.

For many, if not most, the Bible is a locked book.  It seems so inaccessible and difficult.  The language and logic can defy understanding.  So we lay it aside and become satisfied with an occasional table scrap. 

Digging Rather than Raking

Why is the Bible so important to us?  Why bother with such a daunting task as Bible study?  I am reminded of the words of John Piper in the Preface to his wonderful book Desiring God.  Thanking one of his seminary professors, he writes, “It was from him that I learned to dig for gold rather than rake leaves when I take up the Scriptures.” 

Properly and correctly understood, the Bible enriches us.  It fortifies and fills.  It corrects even while comforting.  It empowers and propels. 

One of my life-long wishes is for more time to take apart and digest the truths contained in God’s Word.  All of us are somehow formed like sounding boards that spring to life at the spoken word.  The vibrations of God’s voice strike us creating eternal tremors.  We were created to hear God, and it is in Scripture that His voice is most clear.

Taking a Walk through Romans

This past Spring, I went through the Book of Romans.  In the past, I had made interrupted attempts at mastery, but never put it all together.  The results of that study are such that I felt it good to write.  Romans is like the land of Havilah, of which the Bible says, “where there is gold.  And the gold of that land is good… (Genesis 2:11-12).

In the next days and weeks, I invite you to join me here as we walk the way of the Gospel – the Romans road.  I will take passages from Romans seeking to expand and explain asking the Holy Spirit for light.  Our aim is to know what God says to us.  For every step we take, there will be communication from heaven.  Like the ladder over sleeping Jacob, our prayers go up, while His words come down.  The result will be grand.  It must be.  When we hear the Word of God, we receive more of God Himself. 

I invite you to respond.  There will questions for reflection and further study.  As we discuss God’s Word, it becomes even more alive to us.  So our prayer is that of David.  In Psalm 119 we read:

“Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law … Revive me according to Your word … for Your word has given me life.”  (Ps. 119:18,25,50)