So I'm reading through "Blue Like Jazz" (I know... I'm going slow on this one... I've been busy!) and what I read yesterday made me laugh. "... the Bible is so good with chocolate. I always thought the Bible was more of a salad thing, you know, but it isn't. It is a chocolate thing."
As I was sitting on the couch reading that, and eating Butterfinger minis (ironically) I laughed. How cute of a statement to make. The Bible is good with chocolate. But then again, what isn't good with chocolate?
I just went on about my business, reading and snacking, and made it all the way until today before something hit me. I was trying to read my Bible this morning, and for some reason I just could not make it through even a chapter. I kept getting so distracted, looking at this, thinking about that. So I went downstairs and started reading my book instead. I whizzed through a chapter in no time. Then I shut my book, and sat there and felt so guilty. I know I'm reading a book that is at least about Christianity, but I still felt horrible. How was it so easy to read my book when I struggled to read one sentence in my Bible?
I think we are conditioned to make it hard on ourselves. We don't enjoy the parables in the Bible like we do the stories in our novels. It's because our novels are chocolate-coated. We feel like we are in the stories... Like we are characters in the books, or like we have strong attachments to the plotlines. We don't feel like we can relate to the Bible as much. Sometimes we can only completely focus on the Bible when we have something else, like candy, keeping us occupied as well.
I hate the days when I look back at my Bible to what I read the night before and don't even remember a word of it. When I'm so distracted that I just skim over the pages, like I'm fooling myself (and God) into thinking I've read and want to apply the Word to my life.
So I've giving up chocolate... Not literally, of course, but figuratively. No more distractions. No reading the Bible in front of the T.V. My phone will be on silent. My door will be shut. Because being single-minded and focused is the only true way to be able to hold the Word in your heart.
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Good way of viewing it hun...i never thought of it that way, and now that i look back on it i can truely understand why its so hard to read the bible sometimes! You're so smart...i love you!
ReplyDeleteThat's great Trish - and so very true! I find myself doing the same things... but the Bible is the ultimate love story, the ultimate action and adventure, drama... everything. We should be able to relate to it more than anything! A lot of times I view it as a "history" book instead of a novel - and history makes me want to ZZzz... I've been so convicted of the fact that it's not some boring book of facts - it's the words of life!!
ReplyDeleteGreat post!