like a moth to a flame

like a moth to a flame, many of us are attracted to the lies that our society tells us to believe. i'm sure you can think of a dozen of those off the top of your head without me illustrating any, but to oblige- sex, money, beauty, food, etc. will all satisfy you. they will make your life better, richer, fuller. like the lies of the world that we choose to believe in, we tend to also believe/have some misconceptions about what the Bible teaches as truth. many of us who say we believe the bible to be true haven't read it, or only pick and choose the parts that we want to believe, forming our own "religion" of sorts out of the parts we agree with then discard the rest. we believe what we choose to believe, not necessarily hearing the parts we don't want to hear- the parts that may challenge us to do something for God, give up that vice we've been hanging onto or give up our lives (not in part, but in whole) in order to live our lives for Jesus. we're so attracted to what we want, the good parts that talk about heaven, grace, God's love for us (which are all very good, don't get me wrong) that we don't spend the time with God to understand what we really need.

we read parts of a book, select verses, or take things out of context. if we know the Lord, we read without praying for God to aid us in understanding his word in its context and in its true meaning, through the power of the Holy Spirit. if we aren't believers, we read without praying for wisdom and understanding, without asking God to reveal himself and his character through his word. this leads believers and non-believers alike to have different and varying understandings of what the word of God actually teaches, because we're reading it in our own human understanding, without the help of God. and when we draw in other sources in trying to gain our understanding we get even more confused.

with the upcoming Easter holiday next weekend, my new challenge (for me and for you) is to read the word of God with a fresh perspective. read it as if you're reading it and seeing it for the first time, as the disciples or early followers of Christ would have read. remove yourself from your background knowledge, other texts you've read, commentaries, television preachers and college courses. remove yourself from the distractions in your life- find a quiet corner and curl up with a blanket to spend some quality time with the Lord. pray before you read and open your heart and mind up to what God wants to teach you in this season of your life. you won't be disappointed you did. i know for me, the last month God has been revealing himself in inexplicable ways through the book of psalms. his character has come shining through to me in new ways and i feel like i'm getting to know and understand his heart better than i ever have.

"i keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. i pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. that power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. and God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." ~ephesians 1:17-23