We have been booking a holiday recently, and all the campsites are rated out of 10 from survey results. I don’t just have the brochure to inform my choice, I have people’s personal reviews on the internet, Google Street View of the surrounding area, Tripadvisor ratings… the whole process took us hours of research, but because the data was there, we felt we had to use it to come to the best decision. It was really exhausting.
In this age of research, surveys and digital information, it is easy to approach all aspects of life through your computer, including Bible study. It is easier now to be an amateur theologian, with online commentaries, blogs, etc. Some intellectual rigour is certainly helpful to gain insight and have a sound worldview, but it can end up as quite an exhausting experience as you try and assess different opinions on the meaning of a passage.
I think Biblical truth mainly comes to us as revelation through obedience rather than by analysis. The Pharisees had a thorough knowledge of Scripture, yet often missed the point. They weighed people down with rules rather than liberating them to live.
Oswald Chambers comments “We read some things in the Bible three hundred and sixty-five times and they mean nothing to us, then all of a sudden we see what God means, because in some particular we have obeyed God, and instantly His nature is opened up”.
Therefore, I want to retain the Bible as the life building Word of God spoken into my life, and not merely an exhausting assessment of arguments for and against certain points of view. I want to treasure it and have it there for my benefit.
I hope on our holiday our research will prove to be worthwhile. I hope the Google street view image in my mind will be re-inforced by the true image. In the same way, I hope I can be obedient to Jesus’ commands, and experience the truth of Scripture more in my life.
Jon Seaton
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