The Bible often gets a bad rap. I’ve heard people say it’s outdated and irrelevant, that it contradicts itself, and that it’s just too difficult to understand. Even for those who consider themselves Christians, the Bible can seem too daunting: just where do I begin and what am I supposed to do with it?
Pastors and teachers often suggest starting by reading one of the first four books in the New Testment (called the Gospels, or Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). That’s also good advice, because those books were written only some years after Jesus’ life on earth and were intended to give a straightforward account for those in the area who wanted to know all the details of what had happened.
But it still brings us back to… okay, I read it, now what?
If you’re committed enough to pick up a Bible, or download a Bible app to your phone, don’t just let the words pass over you, try one of these four things.
Don’t pass over it, you could:
- Pray it
- Apply it
- Save it
- Share it
And you might notice these four things also spell the word PASS
Look at the phrases and sentences and see if there is an appropriate way to use your name (or I) or the name of a friend. Without changing the meaning of the scripture, can you turn the text into a request or a affirmation.
For example, here is a verse from the New Testament book of Romans, chapter 8, verses 38-39
‘For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’
So I could pray:
Dear God, the Bible says that there is love in Christ Jesus that comes from you. (This is the last part of the verse.) The Bible also says that nothing can separate us from that love. (That was the part in the middle after the list of all the things.) The list of things that can’t separate me from your love includes death and life and angels and demons, the present, the future, any powers, and anything else in creation. That seems to cover absolutely everything. I choose to believe this today. Thank you for loving me that much. Amen.
The Bible was written by humans like us who God inspired. In the second book of Timothy, the author Paul writes ‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.’ So we must be able to use the Bible to teach us, right?
So, if we take the same scripture we used in the Pray it section, what can we learn? The writer lists a whole bunch of stuff and then says that none of those things can separate us from God’s love.
If we sometimes feel unloved, this verse could reassure us. If we feel that maybe our circumstances could perhaps make God stop loving us, this verse sets us straight. In the middle it says, ‘nor anything else in all creation’ that covers everything imaginable- even our own selves. We cannot stop God from loving us. Applying that part of the Bible regularly to our thinking could change us dramatically. Do you ever have times when you feel unlovable? This verse tells us we are never unlovable.
When I get bogged down thinking that something I’ve done has made God turn away from me, I can choose to think about this verse. Even if I can’t remember it word-for-word I can remember that it exists written somewhere that nothing will separate me from God’s love. When I feel that my circumstances are so overwhelming, God must surely have abandoned me and doesn’t love me at all, I can call that thought untrue and try to remember that this verse tells me no situation at all can possibly separate me from God’s love.
That’s a real life application.
That’s the Bible being relevant and working right here, right now.
If something you read in the Bible seems applicable to your life, you don’t want to forget it. Just like we might save a love note from a special person, so we want to save the things in the Bible that have significance to us. Some people like to highlight their Bibles and doodle or write words in the margins to help them remember what they were thinking when they read that part.
But maybe you don’t carry your Bible about with you everywhere, how else can you save it? Well, you could take a photo of it on your phone. You could write it on a card and keep it in your wallet. You could add the words to a photo and save them in a special album on your phone. You could write it on a paper, tape it to your mirror where you will read it every morning. You could even try to memorise it.
Saving it means you can find it again
Just as you may find verses in the Bible that seem especially relevant to you, perhaps other people may also find them encouraging. Sharing a comforting or uplifting scripture with a friend over social media, or sending them a photo collage you made with scripture on might turn their day around.
Consider sharing any scriptures you make on social media and tagging me