With

John 5:39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me.

I just left the book store a few moments ago. It’s one of the things my wife and I like to do on Saturdays. As I was gleaming at the rack of books I had to choose from in the religious section of the used book store, I found myself struck by all the angles folks were coming from in what they had written. At one point in time I’m sure that I was opinionated about each and every topic. As I stood in front of the rack today I was strangely disconnected and uninterested. Unhooked from the draw of the rack, not looking for it to provide me some insight in the form of a person’s opinion, I had a moment of clarity, these folks are sharing perspectives about God and that is a good thing.

When searching through someone else’s thoughts about God it’s an amazing experience. Some things seem to leap right off the page and testify to the truth you already know, and others written works seem to be deader than the dictionary. But the experience has the potential to be divine.

Before I came to follow Jesus I didn’t read hardly at all. Only when I had to, or had to use the bathroom, either one. But when I began to discover the life of God that seemed to communicate through His 66 books of the Bible and the testimonies of those who have walked before, I had to became a reader. But it wasn’t for the sake of the book itself, although I’m not sure I wasn’t able to see it this way at first. I was searching for the Truth and the Life that was behind the words.

In recent years I have grown more and more in love with the Bible, but not really. See, I’ve come to discover a greater understanding of God each time I read the Bible. And that makes me want to pray and experience the love of God. I’ve been trying to read a certain number of chapters a day, but most of the time I read a couple passages and then find myself saturated with a hunger to express myself to God. I’m not a very productive “religious” person these days.

I guess the thing is with a book in the book store or a book of the Bible, it’s the process of coming to know the Author through the writing that is the exciting part. When hanging out with my wife, whom I love, I don’t write down what she says and underline certain things making sure to remember them. I talk with her, I share responses, growing in my relationship with her. I value her… and what she says.

I wonder what would happen to the level of peace in our lives if we let the scriptures be the catalyst of relationship with God?