05/07/2023
We can be students of theology, and study the bible as if it were literature but still not find our way to Jesus through the scriptures, yet when we are called to Him the scripture brings Him alive in us. Have you found yourself stuck in studying the scripture to the point that you have never truly known the living Christ? Something amazing happens once you have met Him, He brings the Word of God to life in you, and will set you free to enter into a deep and binding relationship with Him.
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
Galatians 5:1 ESV
There are different reasons that people get isolated from Jesus by scripture. Two of the most common are first... they study the Word to prove their own interpretation and opinion of religion is the sole truth, and second, they study to find freedom and life in man’s wisdom and words, and not the Holy Word of God Himself. The words, taken wrongly, cost us life at the expense of a loving relationship with God and Jesus His Son.
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”
John 5:39-40 ESV
When people lose their zeal for Jesus it is usually associated with becoming frustrated in the Word, and not because their relationship with Him has failed. When we set boundaries on our faith by attempting to bind it within the Bible as a legal document, then we don’t have a relationship at all... we have formed a legal contract in which we are attempting to seal, or imprison, our belief.
I have known many couples who married in their youth because "it was the thing to do" and something that "all their friends were doing." They stayed together for many years and even had children, but one thing was always missing... a loving relationship. Then when hard times came, pride and jealousy got in the way, the children were gone, or the promise of true love never matured, and they slid into divorce. The loving relationship that would have prevented all of this was not there. Interestingly enough, some, after several more failed attempts looked back and wished they had never left their first partner, and had sought to nurture a lasting love instead.
When people fall away from Jesus it is much the same; they do so because what they thought of as faith, was in fact a contract they were attempting to bind God and Jesus to. They never nurtured the abiding love that would have grown into relationship and deep faith. The graduates of many divinity schools find themselves in such relationships... lost in the words, and the contract, while missing the relationship.
Years ago I was a double major in Biology and English. Biology satisfied the interest in nature and science that I had, and English teased me by revealing my emotion within everything around me. So, in the beginning I found myself studying life, and painfully reading Shakespeare. But, as I read and studied them something wonderful happened, I found Jesus, God, and myself to be in an incredibly fulfilling relationship with them. Although Shakespeare was always tough, and poetry had allowed me to express the love I was feeling, neither had given me the loving relationship I was experiencing with Jesus and had found in God.
In the years since, I have married, fathered children, felt great joys and suffering, and found a deeper faith, but in everything I have seen the hand of God... in everything I found life, and poetry allowed me to express my love to them. I know songwriters who compose songs the same way that I write poetry... full of life, love, and spirituality. I found he Bible to be composed of much poetry and song... David singing poetic to God.
We need to nurture our relationships. We need to find a way of saying I love you that changes our very heart and soul. Words and contracts might lead us towards this goal, but it takes much more than this before a relationship blossoms, and life, and love, flows out of it. Loving our spouse and Jesus are so similar... Paul tells the Corinthians about the importance of love in our faith and in life... and it is still true today. A relationship with Jesus, or our spouse, is lost without it. So let's read as he describes love...
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 ESV
When we love our spouse then our lives together as one flesh come to life. When we love Jesus then the Word of God comes to life, and we find Him abiding in us, and we in Him.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for loving me. I pray today that I am able to love you and your Son Jesus with all my heart. Never let the rough stretches of life's road separate us, and when our relationship is strained, give me your gentle touch to reestablish my love and faith in you. Your heart never loses its desire for me... let mine do the same for you. As my love for Jesus grows, open your Word to me in new and deeper ways. Show me your heart and your desire for me as I read and study your Word and the gospel of Jesus. Holy Father these are more than contracts between us, they are poetry, song, and an expression of love that leads us to salvation, and eternity with you. Your Word shows us the ups and downs of life and faith, but it always demonstrates your steadfast love for us... never let my love fall short, abandon you, or lose sight of Jesus and the sacrifice He made for me. Lord, let me love you forever and beyond.
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.””
John 14:6-7 ESV
Rich Forbes