A Brief Pause

Before I continue, it seems to me that you ought to know something about my approach to the scriptures, or that may be different than yours. I have lived long enough and walked in this way long enough to not suppose that what I get out of reading it is what was intended. And while it is true that much of the Bible was meant to be readily readable to the average person, it does not follow that all of it was. If, as Jesus said, the Father was going to send the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us into all truth, it follows that that which is obvious at first reading, or subsequent readings is the end of the matter. If I can work it all out by the force of my own intellect, then why send the Spirit to lead and guide into all truth?

Imagine for the moment that I gave you an article from an old popular magazine and that it was written for the common man or woman, but it was written by some famous intellect or scientist. Let us say Albert Einstein. What would be your immediate reaction?

Even before you read the article, you would probably imagine though there would be some explanation of relativity or some other deep matter and tat you would come out of reading it knowing more than when you began, but at the same time, you would have the uneasy feeling that either there would be something in it that you might not fully understand or that he was withholding because he did not think you, the common reader, could understand it at this point.

He that made this universe is far more brilliant and wise than any man, so it would not be that surprising if the book He has given us is written so that we can get first principles readily, but which must be read with care and to find others that would require Him to come and explain to us.

Many people memorize the scripture and know large parts of it. It has become theirs, so to speak. But you can own a car and not have the slightest idea about the nuts and bolts of it. Some of us, like myself can identify the basic systems of the car and what their purposes are but are pathetic when it comes to repairs. Others can repair all or parts of a car but cannot engineer the car as a complete coherent system. Others can do that, but cannot design for efficiency or elegance. So, there are depths in an automobile to be plumbed. God's word is no different. Just because a Ford or a Honda or a Kia may be made for the common man or woman, it does not mean that it is not complex under the hood and the more you know about what is under the hood the better off you are.

But, a word of caution: you can lift up the hood and use your tools on the engine, transaxle, etc and cause a lot of damage if you don't know what the manufacturer's design and intentions are all about. Having access to the engineering team that designed the car would be a tremendous advantage. Having the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us through the Bible is like having an engineering team at our beck and call for our cars. But, before you get a more complete understanding in automotive engineering, you may well make many mistakes in your understanding. Time is your friend in this endeavor.

The same may be said for understanding the Bible. But time will not be your ally if you have no interest in knowing what is under the hood of your car, if you never lift it up. similarly, time will not be your ally in understanding the scripture, if you have no more than a superficial interest in it (superficial means surface: in this case, it means is wanting to know only the most obvious things that the Bible says.

As you read further into this blog, you will find that I tend to ask unusual questions and find interesting and, I believe, important insights. These questions, I believe are the work of thee Holy spirit upon the mind of someone who God created to ask unusual questions.